World Cup 2018: Japan's 'psychic' octopus was killed and sold just before their match

An octopus that had successfully predicted Japan's first three World Cup matches has been chopped up and sold for food.

Rabiot, a giant Pacific octopus that had been caught in Obira, Hokkaido, had predicted that the Japanese team would beat Colombia, draw with Senegal and lose to Poland.

It's method for predicting these results wasn't based on tarot cards or soothsaying, but by merely choosing between three baskets that had been placed in its pool.

Rabiot had become something of an international media hit, yet his life was cut tragically short by Kimio Abe, the fisherman who had captured the mollusc.

Clearly noticing that internet clicks and viral videos weren't exactly bringing in the money for him, Abe did what was best for business and 'shipped' him.

In case you're wondering, 'shipped' isn't a term for suggesting two people should be in a relationship, but a polite way of describing the process of an octopus being gutted, cleaned and sent to market.

Speaking to Sora News 24, Abe hoped that Rabiot's replacement would continue to bring Japan luck in the knockout stages.

I hope that the second Rabiot will also give all the outcomes correctly and that Japan will go all the way.

It's not been reported whether a second Rabiot was assigned the job of predicting Japan's World Cup journey, but if it was it clearly didn't bring the team any luck.

The Samurai Blue crashed out of the tournament in epic fashion on Monday evening. Despite leading Belgium 2-0 they managed to concede a 94-minute winner and thus lost 3-2.

People have been mourning Rabiot's passing on Twitter while also noticing the connection between his demise and Japan's departure from the competition.

Maybe Abe is wishing that he'd kept Rabiot around for a bit longer now?

HT Sports Illustrated

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