World Cup Fever Grips Football Fans
England has been gripped by early World Cup fever after fans learned where the national team will play its group games in next summer’s tournament in Germany.
Up to 100,000 England supporters are expected to visit Germany at some point during the tournament - with more than 50,000 likely to turn up for the most exciting matches. British Airways and the Eurostar service through the Channel Tunnel reported a surge of interest in making travel reservations following Friday night’s draw.
World Cup organisers are putting around 300,000 match tickets on sale on Monday.
It is expected that applications will exceed the number of tickets available, leading to a ballot being carried out at the end of January.
The Home Office said everything possible was being done to make sure the event would be a festival of football free of disorder, which has marred some tournaments in the past.
The Football Association confirmed it will mount a high-profile campaign involving senior players to encourage fans to repeat their good behaviour at the last two major tournaments - and to respect the host nation.
As second seeds, England play Paraguay on June 10 in Frankfurt, Trinidad & Tobago in Nuremberg five days later, then Sweden in Cologne on June 20 for Group B’s showcase match.
England head coach Sven Goran Eriksson admitted the draw in Leipzig “could have been worse” after his team avoided the most dangerous sides in the group stage.
With the first venues now known, fans have started to think about their travel plans and how to get match tickets.
Supporters know tickets will be scarce but many will travel just to watch the match in the city where it is being played.
The FA confirmed that fans - some of whom are fond of making anti-German chants - will be asked to respect the host nation.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/10122005/140/world-cup-fever-grips-football-fans.html
Topic Tag: World Cup
