But Parakeet Likes Netherlands
By Alex Kennedy |
July 10, 2010, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A crowd of soccer fans leans forward as Mani, Singapore's World Cup-forecasting parakeet, creeps out of his small wooden cage and chooses between two white cards -- one hiding the flag of the Netherlands, the other Spain.
If the bird's many new believers are right, Holland will win its first World Cup championship.
Mani grabbed a card in his beak yesterday and flipped it over to reveal the Dutch flag.
The 13-year-old parakeet became a celebrity after its owner, M. Muniyappan, claimed he accurately forecast the World Cup's four quarterfinal games and Spain's semifinal victory over Germany.
"He's a special bird," Muniyappan said.
Muniyappan, an 80-year-old fortune-teller, said Mani has helped him predict the future for five years at a table in front of a restaurant in the Little India neighborhood, but this year's World Cup is the first time the parakeet has attempted to forecast sports results.
If the bird's many new believers are right, Holland will win its first World Cup championship.
Mani grabbed a card in his beak yesterday and flipped it over to reveal the Dutch flag.
The 13-year-old parakeet became a celebrity after its owner, M. Muniyappan, claimed he accurately forecast the World Cup's four quarterfinal games and Spain's semifinal victory over Germany.
"He's a special bird," Muniyappan said.
Muniyappan, an 80-year-old fortune-teller, said Mani has helped him predict the future for five years at a table in front of a restaurant in the Little India neighborhood, but this year's World Cup is the first time the parakeet has attempted to forecast sports results.
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