It takes a brave creature to disagree with Paul, Germany's soothsaying octopus¹, who has an impeccable track record on World Cup predictions to date.

德国的神算章鱼“保罗”对本届世界杯的赛果预测至今未出差错，看来谁要想向它发起挑战还需要点勇气。

But step (or swim) forward Sayco, the dolphin from the Argentine port city of Mar² del Plata.

Sayco's keepers at the city aquarium³（水族馆） decided⁴ on Thursday to see if the friendly creature preferred to play with a ball in German red-black-gold or Argentine sky blue and white.

Leaping four metres out of the water, Sayco unhesitatingly（不踌躇地） went for the Argentine ball placed on a platform above his pool.

Locals immediately saw a positive omen⁵（预兆） , with Argentina set to face Germany in the World Cup quarter-finals in Cape⁶ Town on Sunday.

Even so, Sayco does not have the track record（过去的记录） of Paul, an eight-legged oracle⁷（预言，圣人） in the Germany city of Oberhausen, who has shot to stardom for his spot-on predictions and who has forecast a German win.

Paul needed just eight seconds to make up his mind about the Germans' chances against England -- even though he was born in England -- and earlier in the tournament he correctly tipped wins over Ghana and Australia.

Not only that, he proved he is not just attracted by Germany's flag by correctly predicting a loss to Serbia in the group phase.