JOIN USArsenal’s Lukas Podolski delivered on his pre-match promise to get a dressing room photograph with German Chancellor Angela Merkel after Germany’s rout of Portugal at the World Cup finals.
The 29-year-old Gunners star had previously said he wanted to get a selfie with the German leader who was at Salvador’s Arena Fonte Nova to watch the match which saw Thomas Mueller score a hat-trick.
The German leader visited the team dressing room to congratulate Joachim Loew’s side on their 4-0 win in their opening Group G match and Podolski seized his chance.
“4-0 win, awesome start! And here the promised Selfie with the chancellor,” he posted on Twitter with a picture of him beaming alongside Merkel.
Her press spokesman Steffan Seibert later posted a picture on Twitter of Merkel with the entire team.
“Congratulations — a perfect start to the tournament!” he Tweeted. Merkel has made a habit of visiting the national team after matches.
Her popularity soared when pictures of her enthusiastically celebrating a World Cup win in 2006 — which Germany hosted — were published by daily Bild. Loew said Merkel’s visit had capped a great day for Germany. “She gave a little speech to say now nice it was that we won, especially after such a long trip here,” said Loew.
“There was a lot of applause. We always like it when she comes to see us, she is always a nice guest to have.”
Loew also poured praise on Mueller for his hat-trick.
“Thomas did really well up front and he constantly tore holes in the defence,” enthused Loew after the Group G clash.
“He is a very unorthodox player and you can’t really predict his lines of running, but he has one aim and that is ‘how can I score a goal?’
“That makes him so dangerous, especially in the box.”
“The whole team played incredibly compactly and hardly gave away any chances to counter-attack,” added Loew.
“When we went 3-0 up, it was important to hold the ball and play more economically.”