If animal oracles are to be trusted in the matters of football, Germany has every reason to feel confident when facing off against England on Tuesday.
A female Asian elephant named Yashoda reached for Germany's flag when presented with both teams' colors at the Hamburg Zoo on Monday.
The prophecy was greeted by a small crowd of German fans who attended the occasion.
DW's Jonathan Crane said Yashoda's choice was bad news for England fans.
"She's got all three Germany games correct so far. Unclear if she also does lottery numbers," he tweeted.
The 42-year-old elephant can indeed boast a flawless track record when it comes to German games at the Euro 2020.
According to news agency DPA, Yashoda accurately predicted Germany would lose to France and beat Portugal.
Most surprisingly, she also predicted the draw against Hungary — grabbing both flags ahead of the meet in Munich last Wednesday.
Fans on the edge
Germany is now set to play England in a last-16 match at London's Wembley Stadium.
Millions of football fans are counting the hours to the kickoff as the knockout phase of the long-delayed football tournament heats up.
Expectations are especially high in England. The country's national team has not won against Germany in a major tournament knockout game since the 1966 World Cup final.
Yashoda is only the latest in the series of animal oracles tasked with predicting the outcomes of major football matches.
The practice was popularized by Paul the Octopus, the late resident of a Sea Life Center in Germany's Oberhausen, during the Euro 2008 and the 2010 World Cup. The English-hatched oracle made his predictions by choosing between two different boxes with food. He quickly became famous, and his predictions triggered death threats from angry fans. While his 2008 record was somewhat flawed, he correctly picked the winner of all eight World Cup matches he was presented with in 2010, before dying of natural causes three and half months after the tournament ended.
Germany's Paul the Octopus accurately predicted the winners of all of Germany's matches at the 2010 World Cup. Since then, a number of different animals have been conscripted into the prediction business in Germany.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/H. SchmidtLeipzig Zoo offered up a Koala, named Oobi-Ooobi, as a possible oracle candidate for Germany's national football team during the Euro 2016 in France. The Australian marsupial will be called on to make his first prediction on June 12, when Germany takes on Ukraine. However, zoo officials are yet to reveal how Oobi-Ooobi will channel his "psychic talents."
Paul the Octopus from the German city of Oberhausen became a worldwide phenomenon after predicting the winners of all of Germany's football matches at the 2010 World Cup. Paul communicated his supposed insights by choosing between two glass boxes of mussels - one with the German flag and the other bearing that of the opposing team. The case he opened first was deemed to be his predicted winner.
Nelly lives in Serengeti Park, a zoo in Northern Germany. She correctly predicted Bayern Munich’s win over Borussia Dortmund in 2013's Champions League final. Her psychic abilities were also used during 2014 World Cup. She made predictions by shooting a soccer ball into two different goals. Hitting the goalpost assigned to the opposing team apparently meant Germany would win their next match.
She predicted Germany's win against Italy in the semi-final of Euro 2012. However, Joachim Löw's team embraced defeat.
The tortoise was the official football oracle of a morning show of Germany's public broadcaster ARD. Before Germany’s first match against Portugal during 2014 World Cup, Momario picked Germany as favorite to win which was later proven to be true. Germany won the match with Portugal 4-0.
Before the Germany-Portugal match, Ronald and other penguins were given balls decorated in colors of the two countries. Among the penguins, only Ronald kicked a Germany ball into a Portugal one providing an indication of Germany’s win. The event took place at a marine park located in the town of Lübbenau.
Armadillo was the official mascot of World Cup 2014. During the competition, Taka had chosen winners by eating boiled chicken skin. In the picture taken at Erfurt zoo, Taka was predicting a result of the match between Germany and Ghana. The match later ended 2-2.
Leipzig Zoo resident, Heidi the cross-eyed opossum, gained international fame with her role as an oracle in the 2011 Academy Awards. She made an appearance on American TV's Jimmy Kimmel Live, where she predicted the winners of three Academy Awards categories.
