Paul the Psychic Octopus Is Correct: Spain Wins
As bizaare as it seems, the German octopus responsible forpredicting Germany’s knockout from the 2010 Fifa World Cup Finals, was right.Spain has won 1-0 against the Germans at Moses Mabhida Stadium. Grace Taylorwrites...
Paul the octopus sits in a fish tank and chooses between two boxes baited with mussels. One of them bears the name “Spain” and the other “Germany". The attention around Paul, reaches fever pitch. His decision will give superstitious Germans an indication of who’ll win the criticalsemi-finals that sees Durban play host again. After deliberating, Paul begins to move. First he glides over the box marked “Germany”, but then decidedly chooses “Spain”... and he was right. In fact, Paul the Psychic Octopus has been wrong, but one time -- at the Euro 2008.
Spain clinched victory 1-nil against Germany, just after the70th minute at Moses Mabhida Stadium. Even with 3 minutes of extratime, the usually early scoring Germans couldn’t find the back of the net.
The semi-finals saw KwaZulu-Natal hosting its seventh world cup match. And praise has heaped in for the province’s efforts in making these events run seamlessly and without major incident.
At various Public Viewing Areas (PVA), set up through a collaboration between the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, KZN Provincial Government and Boxer Super Stores, about 100, 000 soccer fans from the most rural and urban areas across the province, have collectively watched screened versions of the matches.
In addition to bringing the excitement of the 2010 FifaWorld Cup within reach of those unable to attend matches at Moses MabhidaStadium, SMMEs have also capitalised on the gathering oftourists and locals at these PVAs, with stalls set up to sell food, beverages, crafts and to entertain spectators.
One of the other goals of the DEDT and KZN ProvincialGovernment was to market the province as a prime tourist destination. Projectslike the Sisonke Stimela Steam Train, which revives the nostalgic experience oftravel in a steam locomotive, has gone the distance to showcase KZN’s beautifulcountryside, quaint B&Bs and rich historical and cultural value.
eThekwini’s newbeachfront promenade was also earmarked for upgrade and has been more than welcomedby both locals and tourists as beautifying the city of Durban.
Picture credit: Copyright Office of the Premier. Photographer: Reinhart Hartzinger
