PSYCHIC OCTOPUS Paul picks Spain to beat Germany It took the two-year-old a while to decide but he picked the mussel in the container with the Spanish flag. So far, the Oberhausen-based octopus has correctly predicted all his country's World Cup results, including the shock 1-0 loss to Serbia. Live on German television, Paul first went for the Spanish container, then hovered briefly over the German one before dismaying the home support by going with his first instinct. German fans can console themselves with the fact Paul has been mistaken once before when he picked Germany to win the final of Euro 2008. That game, too, was against Spain.
No Berlin reception if they lose to Spain
There will no reception for the German national team upon their return to Berlin if they lose to Spain in the World Cup semi-final. Oliver Bierfhoff, the team manager, made this clear before departing for Durban, where Germany will take on Vicente del Bosque's side at 8.30pm CEST on Wednesday evening. Bierhoff refused to go into details, saying: "We have decided first of all to wait for the game on Wednesday, and then start thinking about plans for afterwards."
A crying shame: Wet eyes at the World Cup