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Police focus on Lens
LENS, France (AP) -- England's dazzling 2-0 win over Colombia in a do-or-die World Cup match turned what could have been a rumble into a wild victory dance in the streets, with happy fans forgetting their lack of tickets and the closed-down bars.Riot police with shields, dogs and tear gas guns stood in tight formation, just in case. But they watched the feared English fans hoist their girlfriends onto their shoulders and toast their triumph with bottles of coke.
"Rule Britannia," the crowd sang, again and again. For a change, they chanted to the French police: "If it hadn't been for England, you'd be Krauts."
English fans nearly outnumbered the 26,000 inhabitants of this little northern industrial town, but only a fraction of them had tickets. The rest gathered in groups around town or roamed the streets looking for scalpers.
Before the game, desperate ticketless fans heaved bottles at the riot troops, who moved them back from the stadium and seized some of their reserves of beer. Police charged repeatedly, wrestling men to the ground and arresting them.
About 50 were arrested and several slightly hurt in a series of small skirmishes, but police had no immediate details.
Many fans drove to nearby towns to find a bar and a television set. Others sat in quiet clumps listening to the stadium noises and trying to guess what was happening.
Lens, with its bars and businesses shut down, had helmeted police patrolling the streets. Columns of paddy wagons and armored trucks were parked by the train station and the stadium.
In nearby Lille, where the channel tunnel train from London stops, fans scuffled with local thugs, and at least three Englishmen were arrested. Hundreds were turned back at the border as suspected troublemakers.
But most of the English fans seemed ready for a good time and serious football.
At the game, Prince Charles and Prince Harry watched England defeat Colombia from a VIP box at the heavily guarded stadium, which was packed with 41,000 fans. They were driven into the stadium in an escorted car. They sat in the box at midfield and were protected by their own security personnel and French police.
Outside, young couples in gaily painted faces and fluffy red and white wigs seemed incongruous against the dark blue riot troopers' uniforms.
"I don't think the police had to do this," said Jason Paul, 28, an electrician from Finchley, near a wall of riot troops. "It's a provocation. We came here as supporters, not hooligans. Football comes from England, and we love it."
To make his point, he approached the police line in a huge papier mache red-and-white mask and sang at the top of his lungs: "Keep St. George in my heart, I am English." Hundreds more behind him took up the song.
Others bellowed, "No surrender," and one demanded to know why they couldn't have a peaceful party in the streets. "We're English, not German," the man yelled. Police listened impassively.
Security forces have been especially tense since last Sunday when a band of German neo-Nazis wracked havoc on Lens. They beat one policeman on the head with a metal pipe, and he is near death at a hospital in Lille.
Earlier, in Marseille, several hundred Englishmen fought running street battles with French-Tunisian youths and police, leaving scores injured.
Michel Sikona, standing in the doorway of his video game store, Devil's Games, was among the scant merchants to stay open in the deserted town.
"This megaphobia, this stupid fear among townspeople makes me ashamed of Lens," he said. "This should be a party, and look around. It's a ghost town. Not every Englishman is a hooligan. They should stop the bad ones and leave the rest alone.
"This is the capital of football, and it is always happy here," Sikona said. "There are never any incidents. Okay, take precautions, but not all of this. Give the English a chance."
NEXT ROUNDS: Round of 16 || Quarter-finals || Semi-finals
GROUP A: Brazil, Morocco, Norway, Scotland
GROUP B: Austria, Cameroon, Chile, Italy
GROUP C: Denmark, France, Saudi Arabia, South Africa
GROUP D: Bulgaria, Nigeria, Paraguay, Spain
GROUP E: Belgium, Holland, Mexico, South Korea
GROUP F: Germany, Iran, United States, Yugoslavia
GROUP G: Colombia, England, Romania, Tunisia
GROUP H: Argentina, Croatia, Jamaica, Japan