FILE PHOTO: German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas gives a statement before a virtual meeting of NATO Foreign and Defence Ministers in Berlin, Germany, June 1, 2021. Bernd von Jutrczenka/Pool via REUTERS
June 29, 2021
(Refiles to correct misspelling of Maas’s name in second para)
MATERA, Italy (Reuters) -Taking time out of high-level diplomacy, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas bet his British counterpart Dominic Raab a crate of beer over the result of Tuesday’s Euro 2020 Round of 16 game between the two nations.
“My United Kingdom colleague and I agree on almost anything in international affairs, but not on who will win at Wembley tonight. So, how about a little wager,” Maas wrote in English on his Twitter feed.
“GER didn’t lose its last 7 matches at Wembley. Keep it that way,” he said after swapping national soccer shirts with Raab.
The British minister accepted the challenge: “We’ve got a case of @bigsmokebrew riding on this. Come on England!” he wrote on Twitter, referring to an English beer manufacturer.
The two men were in the southern Italian city of Matera for a one-day summit of foreign ministers from the Group of 20 major economies. The meeting is due to end just as the game kicks off at 1600 GMT in London, but it was not clear if Raab and Maas would see it together before heading home.
(Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Ken Ferris)
