No, there were a bunch of scientists saying this probably would be a problem. There are lots of papers pointing out how dangerous coronaviruses (and others) could be. The point is not that it's an amazing prediction, but that it's not.
This is the best insight in this discussion so far.
The point is not that they miraculously predicted some outlandish thing. That their prediction came true does not make them prophets. They documented a bunch of facts, used knowledge and experience to describe what was almost surely going to happen, and warned that we weren't ready for it.
It's like saying to a friend or relative: "you know that this region is known as tornado alley, this particular trailer park has been hit multiple times over the past 30 years, and you don't have the savings or insurance to recover from an event like that, right?"