Mani the parakeet

While Mani typically assisted his owner M. Muniyappan in fortune-telling in day-to-day work, it was his predictions over the matches of the 2010 FIFA World Cup that saw him gain widespread recognition. According to Singapore's The New Paper, Mani's most contentious pick for the World Cup thus far was underdog Netherlands to beat Brazil. His prediction later proved to be correct. For the quarter-finals Mani guessed the four winners of the matches correctly – Spain, Germany, Uruguay and Netherlands. In the semi-finals, he predicted that Uruguay would beat Netherlands and Spain would defeat Germany, thereby leading to a Uruguay vs. Spain final. Mani went on further to predict that Spain would be champions. As a result, Mani made a new prediction for the World Cup Final between Netherlands and Spain. It tipped a Dutch win over Spain. On the other hand, fellow oracle star Paul the Octopus of Germany went for a Spanish victory, resulted in some media outlets describing the game as an octopus-versus-parakeet showdown. == Results ==

Mani exits his small wooden cage and chooses between two white cards — each punching the flag of the countries of a match that will be played. Mani will pick one of the cards up with his beak and flip it over, revealing the winner for the match. == International reportage ==

Following his successful stint in predicting the semi-finalists of the World Cup, Mani rose to international stardom. The New Paper of Singapore was the first to feature his story and predictions, and newspapers from across the globe soon followed suit – partially as a result of The New Paper frequent broadcast on the bird. News agencies including the AFP ran reports on Mani, alongside newspapers such as The Guardian, and American magazine Vanity Fair. Mani's story is closely aligned with that of Paul the Octopus, who had 100% accuracy in his predictions for the tournament. The two animals chose opposing sides for the final, which caused some media outlets to term it as an octopus vs. parakeet showdown. ==See also==