Police arrests German, England fans

BERLIN: German police said on Saturday they arrested more than 20 soccer fans -- most of them German and English -- amid violence overnight in the city of Frankfurt following the World Cup opening matches.

Three German and three English fans were taken in after a brawl close to the city's central station.

"After suspected English hooligans thrashed the chairs and tables outside a restaurant .A serious fight kicked off between the English hooligans and the German bouncers of the bar," Frankfurt police said in a statement.   

A spokesman for Frankfurt police said they had also arrested 15 people in another part of the city following brawling in a restaurant. Among them were five Germans, one English and two Polish fans.

In a third incident in the region four more people were taken in, two of them German, the spokesman added.   

Some 30,000 England fans are expected to descend upon Germany's fifth largest city on Saturday for their team's match against Paraguay.

On Friday night, England and German fans taunted each other in an hour-long stand off on a central square in Frankfurt following the host nation's 4-2 win in the opening game against Costa Rica. Police kept the two sides apart. 

Following violence at previous tournaments, the English are trying to show that they have cleaned up their act.    Most of those arrested were freed in the early morning after paying fines, police added.