The mollusk named Paul chose a mussel out of
a water glass marked with the German flag over a mussel in a glass with
the English St. George's Cross, said Tanja Munzig, a spokeswoman for
the Sea Life Aquarium in the western city of Oberhausen, on Friday.

Paul has proven to be a reliable oracle in
the past — he predicted Germany's win over Australia and Ghana and its
loss to Serbia. During the 2008 European Championship, he predicted 80
percent of all German games right, Munzig said.

Germany's national team faces England in a
much-anticipated round of 16 faceoff in South Africa.

"Paul's prediction was phenomenal," Munzig
said. "He swam straight over to the German glass, climbed in and even
put a lid on top once he was sitting inside. It was completely crazy."

The organizers of Friday's event were still
analyzing why Paul covered the glass with a lid.

"Either he was a bit ashamed that he gave up
his English roots so quickly," Munzig said, "or he was just absolutely
convinced about a fast, overwhelming German victory."

Munzig said that even though Paul was born
in England, "he now carries a German passport," because he has lived in
Oberhausen for most of his life.

Other animal oracles in German zoos cannot
claim such a strong track record.

Nineteen-year-old hippo Petty falsely
predicted a German win over Serbia last week. She had to choose between
two piles of hay with red apples on top at the Chemnitz zoo in eastern
Germany and nibbled from the wrong pile.

Tamarin Anton, a monkey at the same zoo,
chose the wrong raisin a few days ago, incorrectly claiming that Ghana
would beat Germany, kicking it out of the World Cup.