CHIANG MAI — According to a bunch of sharks in an aquarium at the Chiang Mai Zoo, Team Germany will be the champions of Euro 2016.
Following in the wake of Paul the Octopus, the world-renowned German cephalopod who correctly predicted the outcome of 11 of 13 matches in the 2010 World Cup, the zoo put its five sharks to work to augur the outcome for European football.
Here’s how the maritime divination played out at the aquarium Friday morning: dead fish were hung from the eight national flags representing countries which made it into the quarter-finals – Poland, Portugal, Wales, Belgium, Germany, Italy, France and Iceland.
After swimming around and nibbling at the flags for a while, one shark tore away the bait under the German flag, ignoring other nations. The zoo staff hence proclaimed a prophecy had been made in favor of Germany.
The German national team, nicknamed “the Iron Eagles” by Thai football fans, will play Italy at 2am on Monday, local time.
Four years ago, during the 2012 UEFA European Championship, Chiang Mai Zoo employed celebrity panda Lin Ping to predict the winner. She correctly chose Spain by chomping on a bamboo shoot attached to its flag.
