Ludwig the Dackel sniffs German Euro 24 win

BERLIN: 'Dackel' is short for dachshund in modern Germany. Ludwig, a cute dachshund, was, according to this Times report, enticed more by a bowl of chicken treats next to the German flag which indicated to Germans (! 🐶) a home win in their opening Euro 2024 match against Scotland. To be frank, if Germany don't beat Scotland then I would be shocked but then shock results to take place sometimes.

Update: Spain beat England in the final at Berlin! (●'◡'●). Just in case you were unaware of the result. So much for dogs predicting football competitions..😉

Ludwig the soothsayer. Photo: The Times.

There is quite a nice desire by humankind to have animals select winners in sports competitions. In 2008, Paul the Octopus garnered a huge following as a sporting soothsayer. Paul also selected the winners at the 2010 World Cup. More about Paul below.

And then we have Emma the pig and Nelly the elephant. There was also Konstantin the elk and the ferrets, Snow White and Freddy. Finally, there was Lorenzo the parrot and Fedor the Tiger. I could go on but we do like to do this sort of thing.

And in line with this tradition, Germany has a prediction for Euro 24 football competition. The opening match takes place tonight and Germany will win because Ludwig says so.

He's been described as a "Dachshund Oracle". He was presented with three bowls of chicken treats. One bowl was next to the German flag. Another bowl was next to the cross of St Andrew (the Scottish flag) and a third bowl was by both flags indicating a draw.

Ludwig confidently trotted determinedly over to the German bowl said the man organising the soothsaying, Philipp Paulus, the owner of a marketing company. He said that "Ludwig believes the German team will win the opener against the Scottish team."

Ludwig is three years old and entirely unfazed by all goings-on including the photographers. He also picked the tournament winner: Portugal.

It's possible he may be asked to make more predictions. It's hoped that he will be accurate! Apparently there have been some failures which is unsurprising when you think about it.

His predecessor was Sisi, also a dachshund, who picked Byern Munich to beat Chelsea in the 2012 Champions League Final and was off the mark by a small amount because the German team lost on penalties.

Ludwig's owner has confidence in his ability and added: "He is a very relaxed even-tempered and thoughtful character especially for a dachshund".

It appears that Germany had a fascination with animal oracles which dates back to Paul the Octopus. Paul lived in the Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen. He picked the winner in four of Germany's six Euro 2008 matches. He also picked all of their seven matches in the 2010 World Cup and he predicted correctly that Spain would win. Remarkable.

On each occasion Paul was offered two transparent boxes marked with a national flag and containing a mussel. The first one opened marked the winner.

He became more famous after each new successful prediction. He became so famous that he had to have guards outside his tank at the Sea Life Centre.

He became an honorary citizen of the Spanish village of Carballino. Russian reporters travelled to Oberhausen to interview him to pick the winner of the next presidential election! Comment: no point as it had to be Putin 😡.

My thanks to The Times newspaper for this story.

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P.S. please forgive the occasional typo. These articles are written at breakneck speed using Dragon Dictate. I have to prepare them in around 20 mins.

Dave the stray cat befriended by 2 England footballers in Qatar to come to England

 

Kyle Walker who marked Kylian Mbappe in the quarter-final match between England and France, said: "John [Stones] named him Dave. Some people really don't like the cat but I love him. I love him."

The Three Lions returned to the UK without the World Cup but Dave the cat is going to be shipped out of Qatar despite the fact that the players said that they would only do it if they won the World Cup. This is a great result for Dave.

Dave on his way to a shelter in preparation for flying to England in due course. Image: Daily Mail photographer.

The promise that they would take him home was made by England defenders Kyle Walker and John Stone.

Before Saturday's defeat against France, Walker added: "Dave is fine. Hopefully I can stick to my promise that he will come home with us if we were to win the World Cup."

The video on this page at the top of the article shows you that Dave is coming home and the ladies in the video I believe are the ones who work at the Qatar Animal Welfare Society. They are being paid £2000 by the players to prepare Dave for his flight to the UK.

He will be micro-chipped, vaccinated, neutered and then he will have to spend four months in quarantine before making his trip to his new life in Manchester, England.

Dave is going to dislike that quarantine session tremendously but his future looks bright because he has somebody who really loves him and who will care for him.

The lady's name is Janet Barry, 68. The Times tells me that she is the head of the society. She said: "Dave a really lovely, talkative tabby and it's easy to see why the players fell in love with him. He's a beautiful cat and will be staying with me before he's flown to the players because we don't want him doing a disappearing act from the hotel.

She further added: "The FA [Football Association] approached me to help them after the players said they wanted him properly looked after and brought home."

The manager of the hotel where they stayed said that there are lots of stray cats around the souq "but Dave is now one of the fattest and healthiest after being fed at England dining tables for so long."

The stray cats are familiar across Qatar. There is one England player who is frightened of cats. He is the midfielder, Jordan Henderson.

His teammates, being aware of this, played pranks on him. A fellow midfielder, James Maddison, said: "The other day [Henderson] was eating and I just went behind him and brushed his leg with my hand. I have never seen someone shoot up so fast. He was so scared."

Video of Brazilian football team official grabbing a stray cat aggressively at a conference

An unnecessarily aggressive example of human behaviour in manhandling an innocent stray cat who trespassed on Brazil's news conference in Qatar. Shame on the man. You did not have to behave this aggressively towards the cat. There is anger in your behaviour. This is a cross post from PoC as it is interesting in that is hints at the general abuse that can be directed at stray cats in Brazil.

Here is a screenshot and some words:

The problem is this: the man hurt the cat by grabbing the cat's skin along the spine. Also, to grab the scuff of the neck aggressively like this is not good when the cat is an adult. There is too much weight placed on the loose skin. He dumps the cat unceremoniously over the table.

The aggressive behaviour of the media official indicates a poor relationship with cats. This was a press conference at Qatar before the Brazil versus Croatia quarter final which Brazil have just lost on penalties.

Neymar scored the only goal in the first half of extra time - a great goal - and Croatia got the equalizer late in the second half of extra time. Croatia won on penalties 4-2.

Tragedy for Brazil as they were favourites. Some might say it is karma for the mild abuse meted out to this stray tabby cat who innocently wandered into the news conference.

The journalists present were aghast at the rough and aggressive behaviour of the official. PETA complained justifiably.