A river otter at a Tokyo aquarium received fervent online praise by Japanese fans for predicting Samurai Blue's upset victory against four-time champion Germany at their opening match of the World Cup in Qatar on Wednesday.
Taiyo, an 8-year-old male at the Maxell Aqua Park Shinagawa, had expressed his choice for the Samurai Blue the day before by putting a miniature soccer ball in the blue bucket with the Japanese flag, snubbing a red one with the German flag and a yellow one that was labeled "draw."
Elated by Japan's 2-1 victory, Japanese soccer fans gushed over the otter online, calling him "amazing" and "extremely competent."
Others hoped that he would make a prediction for the next group-stage match against Costa Rica on Sunday.
