The Octopus was right

Turns out that the octopus was right.  And so was the guinea pig.

Today was the day that Spain played Germany to determine which team would advance and play against The Netherlands for FIFA world champion, and which would play against Uruguay for third place.

I wound up having lunch at my aunt Betty's again, and we had settled in to watch the game in the living room, but I was still itching to go out, so I corralled Chapo into coming downtown with me to watch  the game at a soccer bar called Estadio, in the Plaza San Martin.

Estadio was full, so they directed us to their other locale, the Rincon Cervercero, around the corner on Jiron de la Union, half a block from the plaza.    Traffic had been heavy so, despite leaving well ahead of time, we nonetheless missed most of the first half.

I ordered myself a 1 L chopp of Cristal beer and some apetizers to share, and we sat back to enjoy the game on an HD plasma  screen.   Most of the crowd was rooting for Spain, but there were two young women  who were given many pains by the constant Spanish attacks on the German goal line.  They kept covering their eyes and bit their fingernails throughout the whole game.

The bar itself was kinda cool.  It was decorated with beer posters and signs, the staff was dressed in mock German clothes -corduroy lederhosen for the guys, and short dirndl-like dresses for the gals- and there were a number of amusing life-sized figures posed throughout.

After pressing hard for the first half, Spain managed to score on the Germans, and the pulled back to a defensive strategy. 

Paul, the oracular octopus, who resides in a German aquarium, had correctly predicted the outcome of every match that Germany played in this Cup, and this time he had selected Spain.   As had the "Magic Guinea Pig" in Lima's downtown.   When we learned of this, despite Betty's scoffing, we knew it would not go easily for the German national team.

The Germans did try hard but neither they, nor the Spanish, despite some good breakouts, managed to score for the rest of the game.   Thus Germany went down 1-0, and a Spanish team advanced for the first time ever to the final game of the World Cup.

The octopus was right.  And so was the guinea pig.