Germany vs. Greece: who will win the Euro ‘battle’?
News Flash: Russia’s bidding €1bn for Greece’s spot in the Quarter Final against Germany…
Who would have thought the battle between Germany and Greece would be taken onto the football field, as the German and Greek teams go head-to-head this evening? Only the fastest, fittest and fiercest squad will survive what has been dubbed as the ‘debt derby’.
The match has already been seen as more than just a simple game of football. Germany is viewed by many as Greece’s economic engine in the midst of the European financial crisis. In Greece’s eyes, this match is a chance to get their own back on the German team’s number one supporter, Ms. Merkel, who insists there will be no easing off in Greece’s tough austerity policies despite worsening recession and unemployment.
Hope was renewed this week as a pro-bailout Greek government was formed, saving the EU’s single currency from almost certain break-up, and biting Greece more time.The current austerity programme calls for €11.7bn of additional cuts, including a reduction of 150,000 public sector jobs by the end of 2014. The new coalition government, run by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, leader of New Democracy are committed to renegotiating the country’s stringent austerity measures demanded by Europe and have asked the EU for an extra two years to hit austerity targets set as part of the country’s €240bn (£193bn) bail-out. However, there is still a mist of uncertainty in the air. Even with the new leadership, many commentators remain unconvinced of the impact this will have on Greece’s future within the Euro and still feel a ‘Grexit’ is likely.
Tension between Germany and Greece is brewing and with European finance ministers meeting next week in Brussels in hope to restore the euro zone, we could be in store for a Euro eruption before then. With Ms Merkel attending the Quarter Finals in Gdansk tonight we are all in for a treat. So who will be leaving the ‘Euro’? Well, when it comes to football, someone will inevitably be exiting the Euro tonight. As the nation watches in awe, there may not just be a political crisis on our hands, but as well a football one.