The most famous animal predictors. Paul the octopus, Zella the elephant, Zabyaka the goat and nine more famous football predictors Octopus football match predictor

The cephalopod octopus Paul became the main star of the completed World Cup

The World Cup was won by an octopus

Dmitry SMIRNOV

Since then, when Diego Maradona made history at the World Cup in Mexico a quarter of a century ago with his play and cunning, planet Earth has changed beyond recognition. And in 2010, the main media hero of the World Cup was not a football player, not a coach, or even a fan, but the octopus Paul from the German aquarium, who accurately predicted eight results football matches contract. The situation, which is absurd at first glance, when a creature that has not taken a single step on earth “wins” the World Championship, is quite understandable. Anyone can play football at one level or another. But no one can guess eight outcomes in a row, although everyone dreams of it.

Video: Paul the octopus died

The octopus Paul began his journey along the thorny road of clairvoyance two years ago, when he tried to predict the results of the German team at the 2008 European Championships. However, his performance there was not so impressive. Out of six attempts, he failed two. Paul invariably bet on Germany, but the Germans lost first to the Croats in the group stage, and then - which was especially offensive to them - to the Spaniards in the final.

But with the start of the World Cup, Paul the octopus changed his tactics. Not afraid to bet on the German opponents, Paul twice shocked the audience by promising victory first to the Serbs and then to the Spaniards in the games with the German national team. And he hit the bull’s eye eight times, including the final match, for which he made a prediction as an exception.

It is not surprising that Paul the octopus became a brighter star than the direct participants in the game. Which at some point began to work even against him. Many German hotheads were ready to lay the blame for the semi-final defeat to Spain on the octopus, as if it were he who entered the field and conceded goals. But the administration of the aquarium managed to protect Paul from meeting the cooks, who were offered to hand over the “guilty” prophet.

Trying to get to the bottom of the truth, some media outlets suggested that such successful predictions are actually made not by the octopus Paul, but by his trainers. It was they who, by manipulating the mollusk, predicted the winner. But in this case, if one of the trainers is able to accurately predict sports results, it is not clear why he is still training octopuses, and not living the carefree life of a millionaire in his own villa somewhere on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea.

In any case, now that the octopus Paul is on the same level as Nostradamus and Vanga, they will not leave him alone. And the upcoming forecasts for the matches of the German national team or some other teams will show whether everything that happened was a coincidence or whether an intelligent creature with inhuman intuition lives in Oberhausen.

The Spaniards won the World Cup according to the predictions of the cephalopod Nostradamus.

Match Tournament Stage Paul's Prediction Result Correct?

• Germany - Australia 2010 World Cup Group stage Germany 4:0 Yes
• Germany - Serbia 2010 World Cup Group stage Serbia 0:1 Yes
• Germany - Ghana 2010 World Cup Group stage Germany 1:0 Yes
• Germany - England World Cup 2010 1/8 finals Germany 4:1 Yes
• Germany - Argentina 2010 World Cup 1/4 finals Germany 4:0 Yes
• Germany - Spain 2010 World Cup Semi-final Spain 0:1 Yes
• Germany - Uruguay World Cup 2010 Match for 3rd place Germany 3:2 Yes
• Netherlands - Spain 2010 World Cup Final Spain 0:1 Yes

Expert commentary

“Where is he going, your clam!”

This is what Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, specialist in probability theory Valery ZHELEZNYAKOV said about the eight-legged phenomenon.

— Valery Lvovich, how can you explain the octopus’ performance?

“There was just some kind of shift in probabilities.” He had to guess out of ten five times, but he guessed eight.

- Eight out of eight!

- So what? This probability is 1 in 256, what is it? People guess six numbers out of 49, although the probability there is 1 in 15 million. The octopus was just lucky; there is nothing supernatural here. If you flip a coin five times and it lands on heads, what's surprising? This does not mean that it will land on tails a thousand times in a row. If you toss it a thousand times, the result will definitely be close to 50/50. Believing in the octopus’s predictions is simply ridiculous! Let them take him, this octopus, and let him correctly guess more than four hundred results out of a thousand times. I'm ready to bet my life against the dollar that he won't succeed.

- So it's just luck?

- Certainly! This has nothing to do with science or the theory of probability!

- According to Schrödinger, if you take 100 attempts, then the variance will be equal to the root of 100, that is, 10. This means that the real deviations will be in the range from 45 to 55 (for example, 45 is red and 55 is black). But the more tests there are, the smaller the deviation will be. And somewhere in 10 billion attempts, the result will be exactly 50/50. And you can’t get away from it. Where is he going, your clam! No sperm whale, turtle or mussel can do anything.

Recorded by Dmitry SMIRNOV.

Another opinion

Video: Octopus Paul - the most unusual animal

Professor Mikhail VINOGRADOV: “Simple creatures react to an energy charge”

— Mikhail Viktorovich, do you see any explanation for the octopus’ prophecies?

— As a specialist in psychics, I can say that simple creatures, such as octopuses, have some kind of intuition. Dogs and cats find their way to home, migratory birds know where to fly, without any compasses or maps. The likelihood that the octopus is not a setup, as people say, but actually feels something, is very high. Such creatures are very sensitive to such events. He chooses not just a box with a flag, he chooses a more energy-intensive item. The octopus does not understand football and has no idea about the existence of any countries. But he reacts to the message of energy and chooses the container where the energy is more powerful. Rats are fleeing from a ship that is still in port, but is doomed to sink. Why? This means that there is something that we cannot explain at the level of our knowledge. Vernadsky, and before him Einstein, put forward the theory of a unified information field of the Earth. The octopus does not choose the winner; it reacts to the power of energy radiation emanating from one of the boxes.

— Is there an inverse relationship? Does Paul's prediction have any influence on football players?

- Certainly! This is a purely psychological factor. It’s like a priest blesses troops before a battle, they go and win. And if he doesn’t bless, then they may lose. It's the same in football! That is, Paul’s “blessing” helped the players achieve success.

View from the 6th floor

Planetary Poolball Championship

Football is a difficult game. Players, coaches, ball, goal, offsides, penalties, standings and placement on the field. Some championship drawing schemes and FIFA ratings. The match lasts 90 minutes without taking into account what the referee adds, and who has that much free time these days?

How to figure it all out? And is it worth it? It needs to be simpler! Time, as confirmed by the Paul phenomenon, requires simple solutions. Housewives (and many housewives too) do not understand football, but they want to be in the know. Paul gave them this opportunity, and the idea must be developed.

The next World Cup should be held according to a completely different principle. Two teams enter the field, line up, anthems are played, and fans shout. (You can’t do without this either; sponsors have to get their money back.) Then they take out the aquarium with Paul (or whoever will be relevant in four years). Containers with flags are lowered inside to the beat of drums, and the octopus climbs onto one of them. All! Final whistle.

The winners hug and rejoice, the losers roll on the grass in tears. Everything is extremely simple, understandable and accessible for discussion in chats and forums.

Dmitry SMIRNOV

Question of the day

The German octopus Paul was able to predict the outcome of all matches of the World Cup, including the final. Hence the question:

What would you ask an octopus?

Pavel GLOBA, astrologer:

“I have nothing to ask him about, but I would wish him not to be eaten by the Germans and Dutch.” By the way, Paul is my namesake. And not a colleague at all (with offense). Yes, he also predicts, but so what?! You better contact biologists on this issue.

Murat EMTYL, Associate Professor, Kuban State University, Department of Aquatic Bioresources and Aquaculture:

- Octopuses can’t think! These animals are much lower on the evolutionary ladder than humans. Of course, among invertebrates they are the smartest, but to predict the results of a match is complete nonsense! This Paul just hit the top ten, like in a lottery.

Boris BURDA, expert at the “What? Where? When?":

“I would just say thank you to Paul for entertaining the whole world.” After all, everyone had fun! A football fans and fans are crazy people in a good way. Well, who else would want to communicate with an octopus who accidentally guesses something?

Igor KORNELYUK, composer and singer:

“I wouldn’t ask anything.” I don't want to know my future. For what? No one knows the future except the Lord God. And this is happiness. And I predicted the results of the match no worse than an octopus. True, I didn’t expect Brazil and Argentina to fly out so early. But then I didn’t make a mistake in a single match. Intuition!

Alexey MITROFANOV, politician:

- And I’m wondering who will defeat whom in the dispute for the presidency of the chess federation - Karpov or Ilyumzhinov. In general, it is necessary to create the most objective international court in history from this Paul. After all, the less knowledge, the better the intuition.

Vera FEIGINA, head of the Penza City Department of Culture:

— As you know, intuition is best developed in animals and the fair sex, so if I need to know something, I’d better ask myself. Women and octopuses know everything!

Nelly UVAROVA, actress:

- Nothing. I somehow find life more interesting when I don’t look into the future.

KUTAHI, reader of the KP.RU website, Baku:

- Hello, Paul the octopus! Can you tell me, dear, when I will move to a new house and receive documents for it? Thank you.

Octopus Paul died [VIDEO]

This morning, in the Seelife aquarium in the German city of Oberhausen, the famous octopus Paul died, who during the World Cup in South Africa correctly guessed all the results of the German team, and also accurately named the champion and bronze medalist of the world championship.

The aquarium promises that after a while they will have a new Paul, reports the special correspondent of Soviet Sport. Alexander LEVIT.

! Read the report from the aquarium in tomorrow's issue of Soviet Sport.

Paul also predicted results that were not the most pleasant for fans of the Bundesmanshaft, in particular the defeat of Germany by Serbia and Spain.

The octopus-oracle also guessed the winner of the final match of the World Cup.

PAUL HAD A STUDENT

The manager of the German “Seelife”, Bastian Schepper, confirmed to the correspondents of “Soviet Sport”, Alexander Levit and Maxim Lyapin, the fact of the death of the octopus-predictor Paul, which was first reported by our portal.

Shepper states:

Of course, this is a loss, both in terms of image and from an economic point of view, says Schepper. - You saw for yourself how many souvenirs we have associated with Paul. And this is not to mention the numerous visitors brought by our famous octopus fortuneteller. We have a little octopus in the water park who regularly studied with Paul. We hope that he will make predictions just as successfully. We will almost certainly call him Paul II. IN this moment We are preparing a detailed press release about all this, which will appear on our website soon.

...Despite the fact that several hours have passed since the death of the world's most famous octopus, Paul, no mourning events have yet been observed at the Oberhausen Aquarium. No messages have been officially posted that Paul is no longer there. The management of the aquarium is preparing a press release and, apparently, only after its publication will the whole world know about Paul’s death. The correspondents of “Soviet Sport”, Alexander Levit and Maxim Lyapin, were at the scene of events somewhat by accident, and were the first, even before the official announcement, to learn this tragic news.

Teams around the world are spending hundreds of millions Euro on purchase new players and inviting famous coaches, creating luxurious bases, paying for five-star hotels, raising thousands of young football players... And all this for the sake of one single goal - victory.

It turns out that achieving the desired result is much easier. You don't have to spend fabulous money to win the Champions League or World Cup. All you need to do is... buy an octopus. Well, feed him sometimes.

This is what they do at the German Oceanarium Oberhausen. An octopus named Paul is a real fortune teller. His main profession is predicting match results. The technology is simple - two boxes of food, on which the flags of Germany and the rival Bundestim are depicted, are lowered into the octopus. Whichever box Paul chooses, that team will win.

So far the octopus has guessed all the results of the German team at the 2010 World Cup! Although before the match with Serbia, the clam’s abilities were put to rest - he chose a box with the flag of a Balkan country. “What nonsense, we won’t lose to Serbia!” – the surprised fans waved it off. But the octopus outwitted everyone. Germany really unexpectedly lost to Serbia, and Paul turned into a real celebrity.

THE SOPHISTICATOR WAS BORN IN ENGLAND

Aquarium management fast I realized that it’s worth making some money from the amazing abilities of the mollusk. Now anyone can see the decisive moment of the “match” of the German national team - that is choice an octopus from one of the treasured food boxes. By paying five euros, you will be the first to know how the next Bundesteam game will end.

“We are proud of Paul,” says aquarium press secretary Tanya Munziger. “You shouldn’t think that this is all a hoax.” Naturally, Paul does not have a magic ball that tells him future. But he has a great feeling - he knows at the subconscious level which box to choose. I believe Paul 100 percent and have already won 1000 euros by betting on his predictions!

By the way, our hero was born... in England. However, over time he moved to Germany. Ironically, it was he who decided the fate of his two native teams.

“Before the 1/8 finals match between Germany and England, Paul was categorical,” Munziger reveals a little secret. “He usually thinks for a long time about which box to eat from. But then he immediately chose German. With his confidence, he not only predicted the result of the match, but also its character - after all, Germany defeated England! That’s why Paul had no doubts! But I don’t think he betrayed his homeland. After all, Paul’s passport is German.

Octopus has been working in the predictive business for several years now. So, in 2008, Paul guessed all the Bundestim results at the European Championships. Therefore, the outcome of the match between Argentina and Germany is actually already known, because Paul tasted food from a German box. This means that Lev’s team will beat Maradona’s team. So quickly bring your money to the bookmaker's office - Paul is never wrong!

DOG VS PAUL

However, the Argentines, as befits passionate fans of their national team, did not accept defeat. The South Americans refuse to believe Paul's prediction. Therefore, they found their own seer - a dog named Clarito. The Argentines used the German scheme - two bowls with food and the national flags of their rivals.

Carlito, having carefully sniffed the contents of both (it was the same), beats around the bush for a long time and cannot decide. The assembled fans of the Argentina national team are noticeably nervous - as if the decisive penalty kick is being taken! Fortunately for fans of Maradona and Co., Clarito “hits the nail on the head” – happily gobbling up the entire “Argentine” bowl. He doesn’t even touch the “German” one. It turns out that we are waiting for the defeat of the German national team?

Paul, in addition to his rivals, also has enemies. Thus, the famous Argentine chef Nicholas Beddorow posted a recipe for octopus on the Internet. He is going to boil Paul and serve him with potatoes and sweet peppers.

– Football world- This is a huge madhouse. That’s why I wasn’t surprised by the reaction of this eccentric chef,” Munziger admitted. “Well, now perhaps we can hire an extra security guard to ensure Paul’s safety.”

Indeed, the life of the octopus is now more important than ever for the entire German nation. The fate of the team at the World Cup depends on him!

PRIVATE BUSSINESS

Octopus PAUL

Born November 6, 2007 in London, England. Has dual citizenship - English and German.

Size 2 meters, weight 33 kg.

Career: Chief match forecaster for the German national team at Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup.

PAUL WAS WRONG TWICE

In fact, Paul made a mistake twice throughout his career, incorrectly predicting the outcome of the 2008 European Championship matches Croatia - Germany and Spain - Germany.

Paul's predictions:

Matches with the participation of the German national team

There are a huge number of animals and plants in the world that serve as barometers, temperature indicators or storm predictors. The USA is famous for the legendary groundhog-weatherman Phil, and cats and dogs all over the world are excellent earthquake experts. In the world of sports, there are also animals with the gift of prediction. Before the start of the World Cup in Brazil, “Championship” recalls the most famous ones.

Octopus Paul

The German professor of predictions, the kind octopus Paul, became famous throughout the world during Euro 2008. The eight-legged oracle specialized in predicting matches of the native German national team. On the eve of the matches, two transparent feeders with flags of the rival teams were placed in Paul’s aquarium, after which the octopus crawled into the one he liked, thus making his choice.

During his short career (octopuses live about five years), Paul made predictions for football matches 14 times, of which he was wrong only twice. After incorrectly predicting the Euro 2008 final match between Spain and Germany, the octopus was no longer mistaken and brilliantly guessed all the outcomes of the 2010 World Cup matches in South Africa. The final match between Spain and Holland was Paul's last and only prediction that did not include the German team.

On the day of Paul's death, October 26, 2010, flags were flown at half-mast and a book of condolences was displayed at his home aquarium in Oberhausen. At the moment, the ashes of the famous octopus are walled up in a monument depicting Paul with soccer ball, which is installed in the aquarium.

The octopus in Germany was replaced by a new predictor, this time female. An elephant named Nellie began her career as an oracle on women's championship FIFA World Cup 2011. Two gates were installed in front of Nellie, above which were the team flags. The elephant’s task was nothing less than to score a goal! The team whose goal the ball entered first was declared the loser.

Having guessed almost all the matches involving the Germans, Nelly suddenly gave the victory to the Japanese before the quarterfinal match. The forecast was very dramatic: five times the elephant was close to hitting the Japanese goal, but on the sixth the projectile still flew into the goal of the German team. Indeed, in the match the Germans were close to scoring a goal several times, but the Japanese eventually celebrated the victory, 1:0.

By the way, Nelly absolutely correctly predicted the outcome of the final Champions League match between Bayern and Borussia in favor of the Munich team.

Funtik the boar and Fred the ferret

During Euro 2012, the Ukrainians decided to give the world two new Nostradamuses at once. The first was a 400-kilogram pink boar named Funtik. Funtik made his predictions in a completely uncomplicated way - two bowls with images of national team flags were placed in front of the animal. Both bowls contained identical portions of corn sticks. The outcome of the fight depended on which of them the huge boar approached.

During the European Championship, Funtik guessed only half of the results, including a bet on Russia in the match with the Czechs. So the boar did not become a successful forecaster. But I remember that he loved to drink beer with fans.

Another fortune teller, a ferret named Fred, also told fortunes using food bowls. True, instead of corn sticks, the animal was treated to beef. Like his fellow boar, Fred only guessed half the results of the European Championships. Ferret confidently led the Portuguese and Germans to the semi-finals, but in the final, Kharkov resident Fred made a mistake, giving preference to the Italian team.

Harry the Otter

The main predictor olympic games a male otter named Harry became a resident of Sochi. At first, his girlfriend Ashley also took part in the forecasts, but the female quickly got tired of the annoying television cameras and withdrew her ceremonial responsibilities. So Harry took the rap for both.

Two balls with the names of countries were thrown into the pool. Harry was pulling one of them onto land, which was considered the predicted winner. Having made a series of successful predictions, including the victories of the Belarusian biathlete Daria Domracheva and the Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu, the male otter made a mistake in the fatal match of our hockey players with Finland.

After this, mistakes began to be made more often, but employees of the Sochi zoo, where Harry lives, said that the animal began to get tired due to the large number of forecasts. In addition, Harry gained a lot of weight, as he made 4-5 predictions a day, for which he invariably received treats.

Krab Petrovich

Norwegian by origin and Belarusian by passport, the experienced sailor crab Petrovich predicted the outcome of the past hockey championship peace in Minsk. A hockey puck with flags of rival teams pasted on both sides was thrown into the aquarium of a huge sea creature. After some manipulation, Petrovich used his claw to throw the puck to the bottom of the aquarium, and the likely winner was the team whose flag remained at the top.

It is worth saying that the crab did not undertake to predict matches with the participation of his native Belarus - as they say, out of sin. And the forecast did not always turn out to be correct - in the match between the French and Canadians, Petrovich boldly bet on the latter and, as we know, made a mistake. But he was always accurate with our team - in all matches the crab invariably bet on Russia.

Turtle Big Head

Huge sea turtle nicknamed Big head joined the orderly ranks of predictors. The day before the start of the World Cup in Brazil, a football goal was installed in the pool, on the net of which the flags of the participants in the opening match - the national teams of Brazil and Croatia - were fixed. The turtle gave preference to the tournament hosts, eating a tasty fish near the yellow-green flag.

Will Big Head's career be as successful as that of the legendary octopus? We'll find out very soon. If the turtle is able to guess most of the matches, then he will occupy the niche of the main oracle for a long time sports competitions. After all, everyone knows that turtles, unlike octopuses, live for more than one century.