BERLI N - A German aquarium's new octopus oracle has gone out on one of her eight limbs by choosing Canada to beat Germany in the opening match of the Women's World Cup on Sunday.

Konstanz Sea Life Aquarium's octopus Paula, an heir apparent to Paul, gave defending champion Germany no thought on Friday. She shot quickly into a tube marked with Canada's flag to grab a morsel of food in an event broadcast live on national television.

"I think I like Paula's response, when I first heard I was so excited," said Canadian 'keeper Karina LeBlanc. "Of course I was laughing because I think there would be a lot of Germans who wouldn't like her response. I think there will be a lot of calamari served tomorrow.

"We hope that she's right, we're going to need a little bit of luck so we'll take the octupus's pick, and we'll just enjoy the rest of the moment."

Paul, who died in October at Sea Life's Oberhausen aquarium, gained fame by predicting eight matches correctly at last year's World Cup, including Germany's run to the semifinal and Spain's victory over the Netherlands in the final.

Octopi at Sea Life's seven other German aquaria were divided in their picks for Sunday's match: Three chose Germany, one other took Canada and three made no choice at all.

The octopus with the most correct choices at the end of the nearly monthlong tournament will be anointed the next "official" oracle.

Canada is ranked sixth in the world, compared to No. 2 for two-time defending champion Germany.