The cries of despair from all around Germany could probably be heard in South Africa as a "psychic" octopus called Paul tipped Spain to beat Germany in the football World Cup semi-final.
The eight-legged oracle who has successfully predicted all five of Germany's games in South Africa, carefully weighed up the two teams, before plumping for Spain, prompting anguished groans from the assembled media scrum.
Carried live on national television, two plastic boxes, one with a German flag and one with Spanish, were lowered into Paul's tank at an aquarium in western Germany, each with a tasty morsel of food inside.
The box which Paul opens first is adjudged to be his predicted winner.
Interestingly the last time Paul did not predict the winner was when he tipped Germany to defeat Spain in the final of the European Championships in 2008.
