International Controversy over Paul the Octopus!

Via the AFP:  Psychic octopus is Paolo, not Paul, Italians say.

Apparently he was caught in Italian waters, leading to perhaps one of the saddest/most amusing attempts at generating national pride that I have ever seen:

"In its own way, Italy is also the star of the 2010 World Cup," wrote Italian newspaper La Repubblica’s online version, after the 2006 champions’ disastrous exit from the World Cup in the early stages of the tournament.

Italy were embarrassingly bundled out of the World Cup following a shock 3-2 defeat to Slovakia on June 24, ending at the bottom of what had looked like a fairly easy Group F.

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. B. Minich says:

    It’s even better: the English are saying he’s English, because he lived in an English aquarium before making it to Germany. The French are trying configure out a way to claim Paul as we speak.

    I have an idea: what about advancing, rather then trying to claim an octopus?