Hand of God Read Free Page B

thought it would be good for German–Greek relations. For a while back there, Germany was very unpopular in Greece. It was as if they blamed us for all their economic ills. Our tour is hopefully a way of reminding Greeks of the good things Germany has done for Greece. Hence the name of our peninsular competition: the Schliemann Cup. Heinrich Schliemann was the German who found the famous gold mask of Agamemnon, which you can see in the National Archaeological Museum, in Athens. One of our club sponsors is launching a new product in Greece and this competition will help to oil the wheels. A fakelaki , I think they’d call it. Or maybe a miza .’
    ‘I don’t think it can be fakelaki ,’ said Louise, who spoke a little Greek. ‘That’s an envelope for a doctor to take care of a patient.’
    ‘ Miza then,’ said Bastian. ‘Either way, it’s a means for Germany to help put some money into Greek football. Panathinaikos and Aris FC are both supporter-owned clubs, which is also something that Germans believe in strongly.’
    ‘You mean,’ said Louise, ‘that there are no Viktor Sokolnikovs and Roman Abramovich figures in German football?’
    Bastian smiled. ‘No. Nor any sheikhs either. We have German clubs, owned by Germans and run by Germans. You see, all German clubs are required to have at least fifty-one per cent of their shares owned by the supporters. Which helps to keep the price of tickets down.’
    ‘But doesn’t that mean less money to spend on new players?’ she asked.
    ‘German football believes in academies,’ said Bastian. ‘In developing youngsters, not buying the latest golden boy.’
    ‘And that’s why you do better in the World Cup,’ she said.
    ‘I think so. We prefer to invest money in our future, not in player agents. And all club managers are accountable to their members, not to the whims of some dodgy oligarch.’ He smiled. ‘Which means that in a year or two’s time, when Scott here has been fired by his current master, he’ll be managing a German club.’
    ‘I’ve no complaints.’
    This wasn’t exactly true, of course. I didn’t much care for the way Prometheus had been bought without any consultation with me, or, for that matter, Bekim Develi. That would certainly never have happened at a German football club.
    ‘You should come with us for the Olympiacos game, Scott. You could do your homework for the Champions League game as Hertha’s guest. We’d love to have you along. Who knows? We might even share a few ideas.’
    ‘That’s not a bad idea. Maybe I’ll do that. Just as soon as we’ve finished our own pre-season tour of Russia.’
    ‘Russia? Wow.’
    ‘We have matches against Lokomotiv Moscow, Zenit St Petersburg and Dynamo St Petersburg. It sounds odd, but I think I’ll only really start to relax when I have all of our team safely back from Rio.’
    ‘I know exactly how you feel, Scott. And it’s the same for me. Even so, I thought we were taking a risk going to Greece. But Russia? Christ.’
    I shrugged. ‘What can go wrong with the Russians?’
    ‘You mean apart from all the crazy racists who support the teams?’
    ‘I mean apart from all the crazy racists who support the teams.’
    ‘Look out that window. What you see down there used to be the communist GDR.’ He grinned. ‘We’re in East Berlin, Scott. This question you asked – what can go wrong with the Russians? – we used to ask ourselves this question every day. And every day we would come up with the same answer. Anything. Anything is possible with the Russians.’
    ‘I think it will be all right. Viktor Sokolnikov has arranged the tour. If he can’t ensure a trouble-free pre-season tour of Russia, then I don’t know who can.’
    ‘I hope you’re right. But Russia is not a democracy. It only pretends to be. The country is ruled by a dictator who was schooled in dictatorship and advanced by dictatorship. So just remember this: in a dictatorship anything can happen, and usually