Panda cubs to predict 2014 World Cup winners

Giant panda cubs in China are making their predictions for the outcomes of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil -- the East's answer to former soccer soothsayer, Paul the Octopus.[Photo: Xinhua]

Giant panda cubs in China are making their predictions for the outcomes of the FIFA World Cup in Brazil -- the East's answer to former soccer soothsayer, Paul the Octopus, Xinhua news agency reports.

The crack team of baby pandas will predict the outcomes of matches by selecting food from three baskets representing a win, lose or draw, respectively, during the group stage.

For the knock-out rounds, the animals will select winners by climbing trees marked with the national flags of competing nations or let two pandas wearing the vests of two competing nations run a race to predict the winner.

However, the baby pandas will have to go a long way to beat Paul the Octopus, who successfully predicted the outcome of eight matches by choosing a mussel or oyster from one of two boxes bearing the flags of competing nations. He died in 2010.