Oberhausen, Germany - Germany football fans received a minor shock on Tuesday when the world renowned psychic octopus Paul picked Spain to beat Germany in the World Cup semifinals.
The England-raised Paul has been perfect in his predictions on the German team at the World Cup, choosing correctly Germany wins over Australia, Ghana, England and Argentina as well as Serbia's victory over Germany.
In fact, Paul has been making predictions since Euro 2008 and his only mistake was selecting Germany to beat Spain in that final, which the Spaniards won 1-0.
The hoopla around Paul has sparked a number of other psychic animals choosing winners at the World Cup.
And world media has been giving Paul and the others attention as well. German all-news channel n-tv even carried Paul's Germany-Spain prediction live, including live commentary by two reporters.
The handlers of the psychic octopus at Aquarium Sea Life in Oberhausen baited glass cubes with mussels marked with both Germany and Spain. The mussel Paul first chooses is viewed by the handlers as its prediction for the up-coming game.
Paul initially went to the Spain-marked container before moving around the tank and then hovering over the German box. But he quickly headed back to the "Spaniards" and went for the mussel - making his pick.
Germany meet Spain in Durban on Wednesday evening for a berth in final. - Sapa-dpa