"Underwater World Cup" Held in Shanghai Aquarium
Two teams of fish faced off over a big lump of feed at a "fish World Cup" stunt in a Shanghai aquarium on Thursday (June 12) to coincide with the start of the real thing in Brazil.
Twenty-three-fish representing two different colored teams and a referee swam around in a specially designed tank, covered with plastic grass and complete with goalposts, corner flags, penalty areas and a large lump of feed as the ball.
The cichlid fish in yellow and blue were chosen for the match because they tend to swim near the bottom of the tank, according to staff at the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium.
One fish with black and white stripes was nominated as the referee because of its aggressive personality, according to the aquarium's marketing director, Yang Yong.
"It is equivalent to the referee in a soccer match, because this fish is territorial. When some other fish swim past, it will drive them away. When it chases after them, this is the same as a referee running after a player who commits a foul and showing him a yellow or red card," Yang said.
But while the school of fish constantly nibbled at the feed that was almost as big as they were, they were unable to move the "ball" and the match ended 0-0.
But the draw kept some visitors amused, including 18-year-old tourist Xu Wenjie.
"I think having this idea right before the World Cup can draw people's attention. It is a creative idea. It is a pity that I did not see any fish "kicking" the ball. But I'm happy with it," Xu said.
Two scuba divers also got into the World Cup mood, kicking a ball around one of the aquarium's huge 'walk through' tanks.