{"id":1068,"date":"2010-07-08T19:54:42","date_gmt":"2010-07-08T19:54:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=1068"},"modified":"2010-07-23T17:14:43","modified_gmt":"2010-07-23T17:14:43","slug":"paul-le-poulpe-predicts-la-hollande-or-lespagne","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/paul-le-poulpe-predicts-la-hollande-or-lespagne\/","title":{"rendered":"“Paul le Poulpe” predicts: La Hollande or l’Espagne?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The name of la<\/em>\u00a0vedette <\/em>(the “star”) of this Coupe du Monde 2010 <\/em><\/strong>hasn’t been a Rooney<\/strong>, a Ronaldo<\/strong>, a Drogba<\/strong>,\u00a0a Messi<\/strong>,\u00a0<\/em>or a Schweinsteiger<\/strong>. Instead, the very unlikely vedette<\/em> is\u00a0named “Paul le Poulpe<\/em>” <\/strong>(“Paul the Octopus”),\u00a0who is\u00a0reputedly endowed with no less than\u00a0neuf cerveaux <\/em>(nine brains), several tentacules <\/em>(tentacles), and un sixi\u00e8me sens <\/em>(a sixth sense) to predict the outcome of the 2010 World Cup<\/strong> games\u00a0with a staggering\u00a0accuracy\u00a0that has not been disproved… as of yet.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3frT-MWyIoM<\/a><\/p>\n

It is not\u00a0une premi\u00e8re dans l’histoire <\/em>(a\u00a0first time in history) that an animal\u00a0served as an “oracle”<\/strong>: From the\u00a0American “Lady Wonder<\/strong>”\u00a0and the German “Kluge Hans”\u00a0<\/strong>(“Clever Hans”) horses,\u00a0to the CSI-Miami-like “Harass 2<\/strong>” dog,\u00a0les examples<\/em> of\u00a0so-called\u00a0“psychic animals”\u00a0foisonnent <\/em>(abound.)<\/p>\n

In the case of Paul le Poulpe<\/em><\/strong>, the accuracy rate of his\u00a0Coupe du Monde<\/em>\u00a0predictions, till the time of this writing,\u00a0is a\u00a0remarkable cent pour cent<\/strong><\/em> (100%<\/strong>).<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=74PWmVHwqPY<\/a><\/p>\n

It all started this\u00a0Summer when Paul<\/strong>, an English-born octopus\u00a0who\u00a0currently is a host of\u00a0a\u00a0sealife\u00a0attraction center\u00a0at the\u00a0German town of Oberhausen<\/strong>, <\/strong>near D\u00fcsseldorf,\u00a0<\/strong>was able to correctly foretell the\u00a0results of the high-profile\u00a0games played by his pays d’accueil <\/em>(host country), l’Allemagne<\/strong><\/em> (Germany): Its victories over\u00a0l’Australie<\/strong>, le Ghana<\/strong>,\u00a0l’Angleterre <\/strong><\/em>(England), and l’Argentine<\/em><\/strong>, as well as –chose\u00a0fort remarquable<\/em> (quite remarkably)-\u00a0its stunning defeat against la Serbie<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=2tEpXROJeBk<\/a><\/p>\n

The Germans were longing to clinch an incisive\u00a0victory\u00a0over les Matadors\u00a0espagnols<\/em> <\/em><\/strong>yesterday,\u00a0en guise de <\/em>(as a means of) a little\u00a0“payback” for the Euro 2008 <\/strong>final which\u00a0Spain won back then,\u00a0but just as Paul le Poulpe<\/em> <\/strong>has –encore une fois <\/em>(once again)-\u00a0anticipated, it was l’Espagne <\/em><\/strong>who has advanced to la finale <\/em>(the final game), which will take place this Sunday, le 11 Juillet <\/em><\/strong>(July 11th), at la capitale sud-africaine,<\/em>\u00a0Johannesburg<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

*\u00a0Menaces de mort\u00a0contre Paul le Poulpe ! <\/em>(Death threats against Paul the Octopus!)<\/strong>
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