ENGLAND - Everywhere
England supporters are widely recognized as the most passionate fans in the world. No less than 100,000 will flock to Germany during the course of the tournament. While Eriksson's troops reside in the beautiful city of Baden-Baden near the Black Forest, thousands of fans are expected to gather at the respective match venues on the days before and after the games. "The fans know the team is in Baden-Baden to focus on football so we guess they will travel through the country to the three venues," Andy Battson, the British Embassy's World Cup Attaché, told ESPN. "It is very difficult to give stats. We expect 30,000 or 40,000 fans to be in the cities for the matches. And all bets are off if we reach the final. Lots of fans will come over just to say, 'I was in Berlin for the final'."

Battson vowed England fans could not be put down as stereotypes. "Some will stay in campers, some will see other matches, some might stay in bordering countries like Holland and some might sleep in a five-star hotel," he added. "After all, the World Cup is not just about the 90 minutes."

There will be a variety of fan events ahead of each England match. The English FA is backing their supporters, who have developed strong ties with their German counterparts, in their efforts to stage numerous events in the respective venue cities. Prior to England's Group B clash with Trinidad and Tobago, there will be a cricket match between the fans as well as a Caribbean-style Carnival event. It is part of the Alltogethernow 2006 campaign, which was launched to enhance the image of English fans being passionate supporters rather than anti-social hooligans. At "Colossal in Cologne", English and German fans will organise a five-a-side soccer tournament involving 32 teams and have a charity auction.

The German organisers do not expect the English fans to pose a special security threat after successfully cooperating with the FA and British authorities during the build-up of the tournament. Ever since travel bans were imposed on violent fans after Euro 2000, hooliganism has not been a problem. Some fear there might be riots at public viewing places, but "in every bigger city, you will always have one or two people who have one or two drinks too many," claims Organising Committee vice-president Wolfgang Niersbach. "We will be all set and hope everything goes off in good spirits," he added.