The icon of the World Cup Football games was not the ball, not a particular player or two, nor even a referee, or, the ubiquitous vuvuzela. It was the correctly forecasting Paul the Octopus, who lived out his days in a German Zoo.
The Octopus, correctly foretold, it would seem, not just quarter-finalist and semi-finalist winners, Paul the Octopus correctly indicated which team would win The World Cup. I did not see any these feats of 'crystal ball gazing', metaphorically speaking, but there was sufficient interest in whatever method was used, for the world's media to take an interest in, and witness the 'fortune-telling' ceremony.
Paul the Octopus' death was announced today. I am sure the zoo staff will miss him and his crowd-drawing ability. Very few people seem to recall the World Cup Football matches, apart from the winners. Even they concur that the real icon of the 2010 tournament was an octopus named Paul.
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