Paul picks Spain over Germany

Berlin: Soccer fans across Germany will be hoping a "psychic" cephalopod's fabled skills of reading the future have failed him after Paul the octopus predicted a German loss in their World Cup semi-final with Spain.

With a 100 per cent record so far, the British-born aquarium dweller at Sea Life in Oberhausen, Germany, has become a celebrity having predicted a series of German wins and even Germany's surprise group stage loss to Serbia.

Paul was Tuesday once again given the choice of picking food from two plastic containers — one sporting a Spanish flag and the other a German one. Watched live on several news channels, he settled on both containers at first in a sign of hesitation before opening the box with the Spanish flag.