章魚保羅成英格蘭申辦世界盃形象大使
Paul the octopus, the oracle of the World Cup in South Africa, has become an official ambassador for England's bid to host the tournament in 2018, organizers said Friday.
Paul, who was hatched in England but has spent the last two years in an aquarium in western Germany, joins footballers David Beckham and Rio Ferdinand, Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton and singers Noel Gallagher and Sting in backing the bid.
"Paul has spent the last two years of his life in Germany, but he is definitely a proud Englishman and is therefore delighted to put his support behind England 2018," said Nicola Hamilton, manager at the Weymouth Sea Life Centre in southern England, where Paul was born.
"We have had a number of football approaches from around the world but Paul was only ever going to choose his homeland."
She said Paul had officially retired from predicting matches, a skill that won him worldwide fame during this year's World Cup when he correctly predicted the outcome of seven Germany games and that Spain would win the final.
"With his predicting days behind him Paul is now concentrating on a number of new projects and the England 2018 campaign is something we are sure he feels passionately about," Hamilton said.
Following his prediction success, Paul has signed a book deal, is due to appear in a film and is the face of a range of merchandise, with the proceeds to be donated to charity, according to the England 2018 bid team.
A delegation from world football body FIFA arrives on Monday for a four-day visit to assess England's bid.
England is competing with Russia, the United States, Australia, and joint bids from Spain and Portugal, and Holland and Belgium to host the 2018 tournament.
The winning bids for 2018 and the 2022 World Cup will be revealed on December 2.
有關組織者於上週五稱，因預測南非世界盃而一舉成名的神算章魚保羅已成爲英格蘭申辦2018年世界盃的官方形象大使。
章魚保羅出生於英格蘭，但過去兩年它一直生活在德國西部的一家水族館。與它一起爲英格蘭申辦助威的明星還包括球星大衛•貝克漢姆和里奧•費迪南德、F1賽手劉易斯•漢密爾頓、歌手諾埃爾•加拉格爾和斯汀。
保羅的出生地、位於英格蘭南部的威茅斯海洋世界的經理尼古拉•漢密爾頓說：“別看保羅過去兩年一直生活在德國，但它可是一個具有愛國熱情的英國籍章魚，因此它一定非常樂意支持英格蘭申辦2018年世界盃。”
“全世界有好幾個國家申辦這屆世界盃，但保羅只會選擇支持它的祖國。”
據她介紹，保羅現已“金盆洗手”，不再預測比賽。保羅在今年的世界盃中正確預測出德國隊七場比賽的結果以及西班牙隊奪冠的決賽結果，並因此走紅全球。
漢密爾頓說：“世界盃賽結束後，保羅不再預測比賽，現在正在做一些新項目，我們相信它對支持英格蘭申辦2018年世界盃這件事會很有熱情。”
據英格蘭2018年世界盃申辦委員會介紹，在成功預測世界盃的一系列比賽後，保羅簽了一份書約，還將“出演電影”，併爲一系列商品“代言”，這些活動的全部收益都將捐給慈善機構。
世界足球運動管理機構國際足聯的一個代表團於本週一開始對英格蘭進行爲期四天的申辦評估。
英格蘭申辦2018年世界盃的競爭對手包括俄羅斯、美國、澳大利亞、聯合申辦國西班牙和葡萄牙、以及荷蘭和比利時。
2018年和2022年世界盃的舉辦國將於今年12月2日揭曉。
Vocabulary:
oracle: any person or thing believed to indicate future action with infallible authority（神諭，權威）
proceeds: the profits or returns from a sale, investment, etc.（收益，進款）
