July 14. “Button, this clip in the Mumbai Mirror got me thinking.”

“What about it?”

“Was this whole media frenzy about Paul seeing the future and being crowned a celebrity for real?”

“What do you mean? He predicted every winner consistently for each of the last 6 or 7 matches. How can you call that a hoax?”

“Spain could have planned the entire exercise to mentally brain-wash the other teams!”

“Is something like that possible?”

“Each and every prediction obviously took place before two teams went to play the match. When Germany and Spain entered the field for the semi-finals, Germany went in to play with some degree of uncertainty because Paul had already predicted that Spain would win. This must have had some negative impact on their psyche!”

“I see where you are headed.”

“So, in the final match, when Spain and Holland went to fight it out, Holland had already heard about Paul’s prediction that Spain would lift the world cup. This nagging thought at the back of their minds must have had a negative impact on all their minds and, negativity, multiplied 11 times over (Number of players in each team), is a big number.”

“You are impossible. But Paul also predicted Germany’s win five times in a row.”

“Just a thought. By the way, Germany won five times not against Spain but other countries. Paul will continue to be a celebrity and, maybe, continue to predict future football matches and even other match-winners. Chess, for instance.”