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Iker the Octopus picks Madrid to win King's Cup

Updated: 2011-04-20 10:47

(Agencies/chinadaily.com.cn)

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Iker the Octopus picks Madrid to win King's Cup

An octopus named Iker predicts Real Madrid's victory against Barcelona in their Spanish King's Cup final match, to be played on Wednesday, by choosing a sardine, from a glass cylinder with Real Madrid's badge instead of the glass cylinder with Barcelona's badge, at the Sea Life Aquarium in the southern Spanish city of Benalmadena, April 19, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

BENALMADENA, Spain - Iker the Octopus has picked Real Madrid to beat Barcelona on Wednesday in the Spanish King's Cup finals.

The 16-kilogram Pacific Ocean octopus named after Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas correctly predicted a draw in the first of four matches between the teams in 18 days. Now, he's out to prove his first pick was no fluke.

Iker chose Madrid on Tuesday by snatching a sardine from the tube covered with team's logo. Iker floated passively for 15 minutes without selecting a sardine from either team's tube on Friday, a day before Madrid rallied to a 1-1 draw in a Spanish league match.

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Iker's compatriot Iniesta, another Octopus named after Barcelona playmaker Andres Iniesta, picked Madrid to win during their first test in the race to become the Spanish attraction's official oracle trying to predict the outcome of Saturday's Spanish league match between Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Iniesta and Iker are a pair of tipsters in the hunt to take the place of World Cup prognosticator Paul the Octopus at the Sea Life Aquarium in Benalmadena, southern Spain.

The aquarium prepared another two octopuses as replacement of the pair, if neither failed in predicting Wednesday's King's Cup finals. Those two are named Pep and Mou, in reference to Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and Madrid counterpart Jose Mourinho.

Other octopuses are waiting for a chance if there is still no winner as the Spanish rivals face each other four times in 18 days, including in two legs of the Champions League semifinals.

"We'll keep going until someone gets it right," Sea Life Aquarium commercial director Maria Morondo said.

The English-born Paul the Octopus died in October at an aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany. He gained fame by predicting eight World Cup matches correctly, including Germany's run to the semifinals and Spain's victory over the Netherlands in the final.

Paul made his predictions by opening the lid of one of two clear plastic boxes, each containing a mussel and bearing a team flag. He was replaced by a French-born octopus after his death, also named Paul.

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