Merkel to attend Germany’s first World Cup match

AFP, Berlin :

Chancellor Angela Merkel will attend Germany’s opening World Cup match, against Portugal on June 16 in the Brazilian city of Salvador, she said in an interview published Tuesday.
“I’ll be able to visit the first group match of the German team and wish (coach) Joachim Loew and his team that this will be followed by six more games,” she quipped, cheekily suggesting the national side would reach the final.
Asked by the Leipziger Volkszeitung daily newspaper whether she would give her staff time off to watch the matches, she politely gave the thumbs- down.
“Because of the time difference, most games are played when it is evening in Germany, so quite a few games will be watchable without any problems,” she said.