Football World Cup

[Belligerent Savant]

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It seems Paul the Octopus has chosen Spain to win this one... [although if the Germans do lose, perhaps they'll take up the tasty dish suggestion by the Argentinean chef below]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/footba ... m-Low.html

Paul has predicted all of Germany's World Cup results correctly so far, including wins against England and Argentina.

Paul even said that Serbia would beat Germany 1-0 in the group stage.

However, there is still a glimmer of hope for Germany. In all his years of making predictions, the only one Paul has ever got wrong was the Spain v Germany final at Euro 2008.

The octopus opted for Germany but Spain were the victors, winning 1-0.

German fans are now hoping the opposite will happen and by picking Spain to win it will actually be Germany who come out on top.

Such is the popularity that surrounds the octopus the German news channel n-tv actually broadcasted its Germany-Spain prediction live, even having two reporters commentating on it.

The handlers of the psychic octopus at Aquarium Sea Life in Oberhausen encourage Paul to make the predictions by putting mussels into two glass cubes, with each cube having one of the nation's flags on the front.

The mussel Paul chooses first is taken to be its prediction.

Paul initially went to the Spain-marked container before moving around the tank and then hovered over the German box. But he eventually opted for the European champions.

Paul has become world reknowned, but this good humoured, quirky phenomenon has not been well recieved by everybody.

Following the quarter-final prediction where Paul correctly guessed Argentina would lose to Germany the Argentineans threatened to kill the octopus and put it in a paella.

The newspaper El Dia gave this recipe for anyone daring to capture Paul: "All you need is four normal potatoes, olive oil for taste and a little pepper."

Argentinan chef Nicolas Bedorrou has suggested on Facebook a far more simplistic and brutal way to cook the octopus.

"We will chase him and put him on some paper. We will then beat him (but correctly!) in order to keep the meat tender and then put it in boiling water."

[JackRiddler]

That's what you do with an octopus. You throw it hard repeatedly into the concrete of the dock, to tenderize. Then you grill it. Yum.

[kenoma]

Spain -Germany has been more like a philosophical dispute than a game so far. Spain have been better, but I'm not sure that will decide things here. Not a classic, but interesting.

[Jeff]

Somebody had to.



Beckenbauer obviously a bit of a surprise there.

[kenoma]

Goal! Though maybe Germany won the philosophy, since Spain have started playing with counterattacking brilliance.

Oh no, Villa off for Torres! Crazy

[Belligerent Savant]

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It could have been 2-0 Spain if not for that utterly selfish and poor play by that Pedro Spanish player -- he had a teammate wide open, flanked to his left [I believe it was Torres], but he opted to attempt taking the shot himself instead, failing miserably in the process. If I was a fan of the Spaniards, I'd never want to see Pedro play again.

Amazing how different the Germans look today as opposed to the last couple of games, but that's what a good defense does to a good offense.

so we'll have 2 teams in the Final that have never won a World Cup; how about that..

[stefano]

Wow, I enjoyed that. Wasn't expecting Spain to win at all. Both sides' defence was watertight, and I appreciated the refereeing too. And I'm glad Puyol scored, he's a hard worker. I agree with Belligerent Savant about Pedro, that was stupid.

Good stuff, will definitely cheer on the Spaniards on Sunday.

[norton ash]

Viva Espana. That ball-hogging by Pedro, though... had Germany scored, it could've been shown forever as a cautionary tale for young athletes.

[kenoma]

.It could have been 2-0 Spain if not for that utterly selfish and poor play by that Pedro Spanish player -- he had a teammate wide open, flanked to his left [I believe it was Torres], but he opted to attempt taking the shot himself instead, failing miserably in the process.

Yeah, that was bad, but shows maybe that they didn't take to the German style after all; the Spanish style can't seem to deal with an gifted chance. (And it was Torres, so maybe the pass wouldn't have produced much given his form, and I speak as a Liverpool fan).
But they were great, and Spain deserve this. And yeah, Germany were disappointing, giving Spain yards of space to do their thing - they were unlucky with the refereeing, but they were basically outplayed here. But fair play to them - they did well in this tournament, and at least their loss deprives the English of excuses. And so young - they'll be dangerous in the future.
Jeff, thanks for that - it's their best sketch isn't it? I remember seeing this when I was eight or nine, not getting the philosophy jokes obviously, but killed by the slapstick. Still works best at that level (but Marx claiming an offside - just brilliant).

[JackRiddler]

I am at peace with the idea of Germany as champions. They're playing really beautiful football.

Ahem. I am at peace with being basically clueless.

Go Netherlands, I guess. Though really that will upset my whole neighborhood, which has only now stopped the united carousing over Spain's win.

Since the round of 8 ended we've reached the sad phase of any knockout tournament. Like the movies Alien and Ten Little Indians, the most fun comes while most of the victims are still alive, allowing you to play out a seeming infinity of thrilling possibilities for who will do in whom, who will turn out to be the survivor, and how will she kill the monster. Over the last couple of weeks I got to transport myself to feel the passions of crowds in many countries of the world. (Also to complain that these masses aren't showing up for The Revolution.) But by design the story keeps narrowing after each short burst of action, and sucks the mystery and anticipation away, to the point where now it's as much fun as waiting for a coin flip three days from now.

The game itself will of course be very exciting, but the delicious waiting is over. And I forget, there is also Germany-Uruguay.

This is why I like baseball. Even when you get to this point, you have as many as seven games to go! That sucker never ends!

[Stephen Morgan]

This all reminds me of a very funny scene in The Detectives, the old sitcom with Jasper Carrott and Robert Powell,

[barracuda]

http://www.buzzfeed.com/mjs538/the-10-b ... he-world-c

[kenoma]

Since the round of 8 ended we've reached the sad phase of any knockout tournament. Like the movies Alien and Ten Little Indians, the most fun comes while most of the victims are still alive, allowing you to play out a seeming infinity of thrilling possibilities for who will do in whom, who will turn out to be the survivor, and how will she kill the monster. Over the last couple of weeks I got to transport myself to feel the passions of crowds in many countries of the world. (Also to complain that these masses aren't showing up for The Revolution.) But by design the story keeps narrowing after each short burst of action, and sucks the mystery and anticipation away, to the point where now it's as much fun as waiting for a coin flip three days from now.

Yes, this is one of the curious pleasures of the World Cup, how it produces this instant bittersweet nostalgia for the dramas of the early rounds - remember plucky New Zealand's unbeaten run? or how SA looked for about 10 minutes of the France game as if they might just make it to the 2nd round? It all happened a litlle more than a fortnight ago, but doesn't it seem an age away?

What you say is even truer this year than of other tournaments though. It was a good WC, lots of excitement along the way, but it probably won't be remembered so kindly. So much of the entertainment lay in these big romantic narratives that never quite panned out as one would have liked - Diego's bohemian Argentina; the pan-African hopes of Ghana; Uruguay, the Rip van Winkle of international football; a German team one could actually love. Or else it lay in the big upsets and moments of intense schadenfreude: the French disaster, Italy finishing beneath New Zealand, Brazil imploding and a pathetic England.

But in the end we have the two most tenacious and reliable teams in the final. Pre-tournament favourites Spain, who aren't as boring as some people claim, but who do play a slow-burning tactical game that might be more appreciated in a league than a condensed knockout tournament. And Holland, whose football I dislike, but who have managed one of the most impressive World Cup records ever, unbeaten in qualifiers and tournament so far. It's not as if they don't deserve to be there, but both teams have been more like supporting players in the big dramas we really cared about.

It's been a you-had-to-be-there tournament. In spite of all the upsets, the favourites look likely to win. Some wonderful individual performances - Suarez, Forlan, Villa, Honda, Robben, Tevez - but remembered probably for the underachievers (Ronaldo, Torres, Rooney, Kaka). Some really intense and thrilling games, but not many standout classics that deserve another viewing once you know the score.

[JackRiddler]

Yes, this is one of the curious pleasures of the World Cup, how it produces this instant bittersweet nostalgia for the dramas of the early rounds - remember plucky New Zealand's unbeaten run? or how SA looked for about 10 minutes of the France game as if they might just make it to the 2nd round? It all happened a litlle more than a fortnight ago, but doesn't it seem an age away?

What you say is even truer this year than of other tournaments though. It was a good WC, lots of excitement along the way, but it probably won't be remembered so kindly. So much of the entertainment lay in these big romantic narratives that never quite panned out as one would have liked - Diego's bohemian Argentina; the pan-African hopes of Ghana; Uruguay, the Rip van Winkle of international football; a German team one could actually love. Or else it lay in the big upsets and moments of intense schadenfreude: the French disaster, Italy finishing beneath New Zealand, Brazil imploding and a pathetic England.

Very well said. I remember this feeling from other times. By the time of the 1990 final - I was anti-Germany because I didn't like the new nationalism in my then-adopted country - my memory already was that there had been a distant but glorious Golden Age of Cameroon when Roger Milla almost led the way to an African championship. And like you say, this golden age had ended the week before, when they were knocked out in the quarterfinals against England (which then fell to Germany).

[kenoma]

By the time of the 1990 final - I was anti-Germany because I didn't like the new nationalism in my then-adopted country - my memory already was that there had been a distant but glorious Golden Age of Cameroon when Roger Milla almost led the way to an African championship. And like you say, this golden age had ended the week before, when they were knocked out in the quarterfinals against England (which then fell to Germany).

I was in Germany for that tournament too! I was in Regensburg to see Ireland lose in the quarters to Italy . And then, it must have been just a week or so later, though I remember it as months later, I saw the final in a campsite bar in Prague in what was then Czechoslovakia. It was full of really brash and aggressive West Germans, absolutely stocious on the ludicrously cheap beer they had come there for, and singing songs I suspect their grandparents taught them. Saw the same crowd a few days later in Wenceslas square, queuing up for the free beer being given out for the inauguration of Vaclav Havel.