Ludwig the psychic sausage dog backs GERMANY to beat Scotland in Euro 2024 opener and predicts Portugal will be overall winner as he follows in the footsteps of Paul the octopus

A psychic sausage dog predicted that Germany will beat Scotland in the opening match of Euro 2024 tonight as Portugal is chosen as the tournament winner.

Ludwig the dachshund was tasked with choosing the winner of the tournament’s opening match – which starts tonight at 8pm – at an event in his native Munich.

Ludwig was known as the ‘Dachshund Oracle’ and was presented with three small bowls containing his favorite chicken delicacies.

To determine the result, he was instructed to choose one of three bowls: one decorated with the German flag, one with the cross of Saint Andrew, and one with both together, in case there was a tie.

Ludwig had no hesitation in heading to the German bowl, his decision serving as a potential indicator for tonight’s match winner.

Ludwig the dachshund sits next to a bowl containing a chicken treat, from which he ate to choose his winner in tonight’s Euro 2024 opener

Philipp Paulus, whose marketing company organized the event, said: “He trotted to the German bowl with determination and is so convinced that the German team will win the opener against the Scottish team.” The times.

A local Bavarian radio station may ask Ludwig to continue his predictions if he manages to guess the outcome of Friday’s match.

Ludwig’s owner, Volker Hiddemann, added: ‘He is very fond of football and has a sharp instinct. He has a very relaxed, even-tempered and thoughtful character, especially for a dachshund.”

The Bavarians hope his assessment will be more accurate than that of his predecessor, Sisi, who picked Bayern Munich to beat Chelsea in the 2012 Champions League final, which the Blues won on penalties.

Ludwig and Sisi are not the first animal oracles to attract widespread attention across Germany – with the country’s fascination with the practice stemming from the exploits of Paul the Octopus, who lived at the Sea Life Centre, located in the northwestern town of Oberhausen. .

Paul rose to fame after correctly picking the winning team in four of the six German matches at the 2008 European Championship.

He then followed this up with a 100% success rate for the German national team in all seven matches at the 2010 World Cup, while also correctly predicting that Spain would win the tournament.

The experiment worked by presenting Paul with two transparent boxes, each marked with a team flag and containing a mussel.

Paul the Octopus became famous in 2010 after successfully predicting that Spain would win the World Cup that year

Orangutan oracle Walter, who lives at Dortmund Zoo, is seen placing his tip ahead of tonight’s match between Germany and Scotland

In similar fashion to Ludwig’s exploits, whoever he opened first was the winner.

As his fame grew with each successful prediction, a security guard was forced to stand outside his tank after receiving death threats from Argentine fans following their country’s quarter-final defeat by Germany in 2010.

Since Paul’s exploits, zoos, farms and media in Germany and other countries have tried to find animals that matched Paul’s skills ahead of major football tournaments.

While Ludwig’s estimates predicted an easy victory for Germany against Scotland, another paranormal in Germany wasn’t so sure.

Walter, a paranormal orangutan at Dortmund Zoo, appeared to foresee the competition as a much more exciting affair after two buckets – one with a German scarf and another with a Scottish scarf – were placed in the monkey’s enclosure on Thursday.

Zoo spokesman Marcel Stawinoga said: ‘Walter stopped in front of the buckets, and then he looked at them both and he went very strictly to the German bucket, so I think it must be a win for the German team against Scotland.

“But then he went to the Scottish bucket, so maybe the Scots are very close too,” he added The sun.

Another example of astonishingly accurate animal predictions regarding the German national team’s fortunes at major tournaments came during Euro 2012, when Emma the pig.

Emma, ​​​​a Mangalitsa pig from Freiburg, in the south-west of the country, maintained a perfect record of pre-match predictions for Germany during the tournament, as she even managed to guess that the team would not advance to the finale.

While many predictions have come in from animals across Germany this evening ahead of their opening match, a lion has predicted that England will play the opening match of the tournament against Serbia on Sunday.

Rana, a male lion who lives in the Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford, Oxfordshire, looked at photos of the flags of both countries before jumping to the window of his enclosure and putting a paw on each of them

Unfortunately for this year’s European Championship hosts, they lost the 2012 semi-final 2-1 to Italy, who would be defeated 4-0 by Spain in that year’s final.

While many predictions have been made from animals across Germany ahead of their opening match tonight, a lion has predicted that England will play their opening match of the tournament against Serbia on Sunday.

Rana, a male lion who lives in the Cotswold Wildlife Park near Burford, Oxfordshire, looked at photos of the flags of both countries before jumping to the window of his enclosure and putting a paw on each of them.

Although Rana predicted an outcome without hesitation, his partner, Kahna, tried not to take a guess and instead watched the former at work from the comfort of her bed in the game park.

Park’s carnivore keeper James Welch, who cares for the felines, said Rana’s decision was “fairly convincing”.

He had to wake the lions a little earlier than usual so that a reporter from BBC Radio Oxford could delve into the fate of the Three Lions before opening time.