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5 months ago
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A psychic sausage dog has predicted that Germany will beat Scotland in the opening match of Euro 2024 tonight while picking Portugal as tournament winners.
Ludwig the dachshund was tasked with picking the winner of the tournament's opening match - which kicks off at 8pm tonight - at an event in his native Munich.
Known as the 'Dachshund Oracle', Ludwig was offered three small bowls containing his favourite chicken treats.
To determine the result, he was tasked with choosing one of three bowls - one was adorned with the German flag, one with the cross of St Andrew and one with both together, in case there was a draw.
Ludwig did not hesitate in going to the German bowl, his decision serving as a potential indicator of tonight's match winner.
Ludwig the dachshund is seen sitting next to a bowl containing a chicken treat, which he ate out of to choose his winner at the Euro 2024 opener tonight
Philipp Paulus, whose marketing company organised the event, said: 'He trotted determinedly over to the German bowl so firmly believes that the German team will win the opener against the Scottish team,' according to The Times.
A local Bavarian radio station may ask Ludwig to continue with his predictions if he is successful in guessing the outcome of Friday's match.
Ludwig's owner, Volker Hiddemann, added: 'He is very keen on football and has a keen instinct. He is a very relaxed, even-tempered and thoughtful character — especially for a dachshund.'
Bavarians are hoping that his estimation will be more accurate than that of his predecessor, Sisi, who picked Bayern Munich to beat Chelsea in the 2012 Champions League Final - which the Blues won on penalties.
Ludwig and Sisi are not the first animal oracles to garner widespread attention across Germany - with the country's fascination in the practice coming after the exploits of Paul the Octopus, who lived in the Sea Life Centre, located in the country's north-western city of Oberhausen.
Paul rose to fame after he correctly picked the winning team in four of Germany's six matches Euro 2008.
He then followed this up with a 100% success rate for the German national team in all seven of their matches at the 2010 World Cup while also correctly predicting that Spain would win the tournament.
The experiment worked by offering Paul two transparent boxes - each being marked with a team flag and containing a mussel.
Paul the octopus rose to fame in 2010 after successfully predicting that Spain would win that year's World Cup
In similar fashion to Ludwig's exploits, the one he opened first marked the winner.
As his fame grew with each successful prediction, a security guard was forced to stand outside his tank after he received death threats from Argentina fans, after their country were beaten by Germany at the quarter-final stage in 2010.
Since Paul's exploits, zoos, farms and media in Germany and other countries have tried to find animals to match Paul's ability ahead of major football tournaments.
While Ludwig's estimations forecast an easy victory for Germany against Scotland, another psychic animal in Germany was not so sure.
Walter, a psychic orangutan at Dortmund Zoo, appeared to foresee the contest as a far tighter affair after two buckets - one with a Germany scarf and another with a Scotland scarf - were placed in the ape's enclosure on Thursday.
The zoo's spokesperson, Marcel Stawinoga, said: 'Walter stopped in front of the buckets, and then he took a look at both and he was very strictly going to the German bucket, so I think it must be a victory for the German team against Scotland.
Orangutan oracle Walter, who lives at Dortmund Zoo, is seen placing his tip ahead of tonight's clash between Germany and Scotland
'But then he went to the Scottish bucket, so may be the Scottish will be very close too,' he added, per The Sun.
Another example of astonishingly accurate animal predictions relating to the German national team's fortune at major tournaments came during Euro 2012, when Emma the pig.
A Mangalitsa pig from Freiburg, in the south-west of the country, Emma maintained a perfect record on pre-match predictions for Germany at the tournament, as she was even successful in guessing that the team would not progress to the final.
Unfortunately for this year's host of the Euros, they lost their 2012 semi-final fixture 2-1 to Italy, who would go on to be thumped 4-0 by Spain in that year's final.
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