Merkel to attend match against Greece
Reuters - Wednesday 20 June 2012, 12:52
German chancellor Angela Merkel
will attend Friday's Euro 2012 quarter-final with Greece in
Gdansk, adding to the political spice in a clash that pitches
the eurozone's most troubled economy against its rich northern
paymaster.
It will not be the first time Merkel has sat in the stands
for a Germany game. She attended the 2010 World Cup and a Euro
2012 qualifier against Turkey, where she was photographed with
bare-topped midfielder Mesut Ozil in the changing room after the
match.
"The team is delighted with the news and she is our lucky
charm," said team spokesman Harald Stenger on Wednesday.
German and Greek players and coaches have sought to play
down the importance of a game which has turned minds at the
tournament to a deepening economic crisis affecting many of the
nations involved.
But Greek media have relished the prospect of sending a
fancied German team home in front of the chancellor, who is a
deeply unpopular figure for the tough austerity she has imposed
on the country in exchange for its international bailout.
In line with other European leaders, Merkel did not attend
any of Germany's group games due to a diplomatic boycott of
Ukraine in protest at the jailing of former prime minister Yulia
Tymoshenko.
Berlin spokesman Georg Streiter said the chancellor had
accepted an invitation from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk to
attend the game in the Baltic coast city.
Pressed on whether Merkel would meet Antonis Samaras, who is
working to form a new Greek government after his New Democracy
party won elections at the weekend, Streiter joked: "Maybe in
the halftime break."
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, also a detested
figure in Greece, told Die Zeit newspaper he thought Germany
would win 3-1.
"The Greeks played fantastically against Russia [in their
last game]. It won't be an easy game. However, the German squad
is in peak form," he said.