From Paul the Octopus to Joachim’s Boogers, it’s the Seven Wonders of the World Cup 2010
From Paul the Octopus to Joachim’s Boogers, it’s the Seven Wonders of the World Cup 2010
By Darshan Joshi
We learn plenty over the course of a World Cup, don’t we? We realise the unimportant things, like the ability Germany have without Michael Ballack, like the fact that we’ll have a new World Cup winner this summer, like the fact that we’re all now going to have vuvuzelas line our attics, and like the fact that once and for all, we now know that the England national team are made up of a rubbish bunch of overpaid princesses.
Of course, none of that matters. We’re done with the World Cup, and it’s time to look back at seven of the brilliant events that have overshadowed this summer’s extravaganza.
Nike doesn’t write the future, Paul the Octopus does (and Mani the Parakeet!)
We’ve covered the curse of Nike’s wastefully overdone advertisement, but where one fails, another (two) succeed. Step up, Paul and Mani. They hail from opposing poles of the World but have pretty much one thing in common: they’re challenging the Lord. They may still be Gods of the animal kingdom, but to mess with humans like this? No way, we won’t stand for this.
Paul, the more mainstream of the two, is the story of the World Cup. He is the symbol of South Africa 2010. He correctly predicted all of Germany’s matches in the tournament, and also predicted Spain’s triumph over the Netherlands. Ladies and gentlemen, Paul the Octopus.
