BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - – It takes a brave creature to disagree
with Paul, Germany's soothsaying octopus, who has an impeccable
track record on World Cup predictions to date.
But step (or swim) forward Sayco, the dolphin from the Argentine
port city of Mar del Plata.
Sayco's keepers at the city aquarium decided on Thursday to see
if the friendly creature preferred to play with a ball in German
red-black-gold or Argentine sky blue and white.
Leaping four metres out of the water, Sayco unhesitatingly went
for the Argentine ball placed on a platform above his pool.
Locals immediately saw a positive omen, with Argentina set to
face Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals in Cape Town on
Sunday.
Even so, Sayco does not have the track record of Paul, an
eight-legged oracle in the Germany city of Oberhausen, who has shot
to stardom for his spot-on predictions and who has forecast a
German win.
Paul needed just eight seconds to make up his mind about the
Germans' chances against England -- even though he was born in
England -- and earlier in the tournament he correctly tipped wins
over Ghana and Australia.
Not only that, he proved he is not just attracted by Germany's
flag by correctly predicting a loss to Serbia in the group
phase.
