Police detain a German soccer fan after the World Cup 2006 soccer match between Poland and Germany in Dortmund, June14, 2006. [Reuters]

A police spokesman said yesterday that 429 fans were detained either because they were known Polish or German hooligans or their behaviour was aggressive and threatening and police wished to prevent violence from escalating.

Of those detained 278 were German and 119 were Poles. By yesterday morning police had released all but three fans, after arresting 96 and going on to charge 64 with offences ranging from damage of property to serious bodily harm.

In Nuremberg, where an estimated 50,000 England fans are congregating for their team's second match, police said they were ready should any more disturbances arise.

"It's possible we will face the same thing," policeman Joachim Hagen said. "We have a strong force and we will keep a close watch."

Overnight, two England fans were arrested for assault and another three people were detained for throwing plastic bottles, but later released, British police said.

Wolfgang Niersbach, a vice-president of the German World Cup organising committee praised the action of the police.

"The police deserve tremendous praise for the way they handled the situation, realised the danger and took preventive action.

"The best development was that as a result of detaining people, it was discovered that 30 Polish hooligans were on a bus on their way to Dortmund, and this bus was intercepted by police before they could get there.2

"It was an awful coincidence that the first serious violence at this World Cup occured on the anniversary of the day in 1998 that German thugs seriously injured the French policeman Daniel Nivel during the World Cup in France. He was a guest of FIFA at the Germany-Poland match yesterday and is still suffering as a consequence of those injuries."

In the worst clash German fans pelted police with beer bottles, fireworks and chairs and tables from restaurants near Dortmund's Alter Markt after hundreds of riot police tried to clear a group of drunk hooligans.

In separate clashes nearby smaller groups of drunken German and Polish fans set on each other, police said. A Reuters TV cameraman suffered slight injuries after he was punched in the back of the head.

The relationship between Germany and Poland, especially their soccer fans, has been tense and marred by history as Poland suffered greatly under Nazi occupation in World War II.