At Last, Some Violence

mjdeadspin|published: Sat 24th June, 20:12 2006

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Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time. More than 120 people were arrested after what are being described here as "brief but violent disturbances" in Stuttgart, Germany earlier today.

The culprit? The English. Their motivation? Evidently, German happiness. In one instance, German fans were celebrating their own win and singing their celebratory songs when some chairs and bottles began raining down on them. In the same area earlier in the day, 122 English fans were arrested for throwing bottles at people walking by. 122 people. That's a lot of bottles.

Still, considering all the hooligan fears that were prevalent before the World Cup started, things are going pretty well. According to a British official of some kind, this wasn't even a hooligan incident. Hell, it might have even been a good thing:

"You will not see any English hooligans here in Stuttgart - what you will see is English drunks. I apologize now for that, but it is very good for the economy."

So yeah, you might get hit in the head with a bottle, but hey, at least that bottle was purchased at a local German pub. Those stitches are a small price to pay for economic growth.

English soccer fans disturbance halted [Yahoo! News] Police Arrest 122 English Soccer Fans [Forbes.com]

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