From the US to the Cayman Islands, from Australia to India, Shaheen the camel is fast becoming an icon of World Cup 2014.

But, while the comedy prediction machine from the Dubai desert is a hump-backed genius to some, others have taken issue with the four-hooved clairvoyant, and haven't been afraid to tell us so.

SCROLL DOWN FOR A BEHIND-THE-SCENES VIDEO

When the going was good and winning streak was on, readers, Facebookers and Tweeps alike were lauding the unassuming ungulate for his ability to munch on the correct piece of cardboard.

Ali Khan, of Dubai, wrote on gulfnews.com: “Shaheen is doing a great job! Keep it up!”

And UK resident Lucky agreed: “Shaheen predicted Italy would win whereas all other so-called psychic creatures chose England. Hurray, Shaheen rocks!”

Some had their conspiracy theories, suggesting food was being hidden behind the favoured team.

Rajmal, of Dubai, was among the doubters. He said: “Can we stop this please? It’s so clear the camel is eating. When he’s in front of the flags, there’s something behind the plank that’s tempting him to eat or nudge a particular one. What a publicity stunt! Sorry this camel didn’t make it to Broadway.”

And fellow Dubai resident Hussain thought Shaheen had a right-side bias.

“Why is Shaheen always choosing the winner from the right side?" Hussain said. "It looks like it’s fixed! Someone else is predicting for him.”

But doubts were blown into oblivion when the Netherlands thrashed world champions Spain in an incredibly unlikely result. And yes, you guessed it, Shaheen had picked the Dutch.

Shaheen's finest hour came in picking the Netherlands to beat Spain.

Since then it has been a rocky road, with four out of four correct selections becoming seven out of 12 on Monday night as Croatia crashed out at the hands of Mexico.

And, when it started to go wrong, the backlash began once more.

Twitter-users started using the #ShaheenFail hashtag, while others even posted graphic images of dead camels.

Abdul Basir, of Pakistan, compared our Shaheen to the animal that started the trend at the 2010 World Cup. He wrote: “Paul the octopus was so much better...”

Toye Jay, a Dubai resident, said: “Shaheen should be made available for barbecue after the World Cup! Anyone who eats would be able to predict the future.”

And Asif Ali, who lives in Ras Al Khaimah, made it clear what he felt: “Slaughter Shaheen and distribute his meat among football fans. How many times will he predict wrong?”

The dromedary does have support, however.

Mohammad Zafar, a Pakistani national, defended Shaheen. He said: “The camel’s predictions are for fun only. One should not take his predictions too seriously.”

View Shaheen’s predictions for upcoming matches right here at gulfnews.com, or visit the Gulf News Facebook page and Sport Twitter account.

Watch the behind the scenes video here: