They may not be doing much of anything else lately (except for now proudly accepting Spiderman towels [6]are collateral of course), but the European Central Bank sure is a fan of football, and the fact that three of the four teams in the Semi-finals come from countries officially funded by the ECB. We do have the feeling that letting Germany slip into the congratulatory tweet below was a mistake that will cost someone their taxpayer funded job.
Congratulations to Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy #euro2012 [7]
— Eur. Central Bank (@ecb_europa_eu) June 24, 2012 [8]
Ironically, while it has been the world against Merkel in bailoutnomics for the past several months [9], the key battle for Europe has now shifted to the football stadium as well.