STUTTGART, Germany _ Police released hundreds of English soccer fans who were arrested on the eve of England's World Cup second-round encounter against Ecuador, then banned them from the Stuttgart city center for Sunday's match.

Stuttgart police president Siegfried Stumpf said 378 people, mainly English, had been taken into "preventative custody" overnight but most had been released by early Sunday.

He said 375 people had been given orders banning them from the fan area in the city center until 8 a.m. (0600 GMT) Monday. Three others remained in custody.

The England-Ecuador match was due to kick off at 5 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) Sunday.

"We expect that the true football fans will come and that there will be a real party atmosphere," Stumpf said.

Of the 122 people arrested in a separate incident Friday night, 117 will remain in custody until Monday morning.

Police in full riot gear broke up two brief but violent disturbances involving English fans in Stuttgart on Saturday night following Germany's 2-0 afternoon win over Sweden at Munich.

English and German fans clashed in a plaza near outdoor viewing screens. German fans were singing in celebration when England fans began throwing plastic chairs and bottles at them, police said.

Five Germans were injured before police separated the two sides, a pile of upended chairs and shards of broken glass between them. Police two or three deep corralled the English fans and waded into the crowd, arresting them one by one.

"We don't know exactly which group which provoked it first," said police spokesman Stefan Keilbach, adding that some German fans had been singing "We're going to Berlin without the English fans" _ a reference to the tournament final July 9.

About 50,000 England fans were expected in Stuttgart for the match. They were being greeted with a heavy security presence _ about 1,800 officers on patrol along with British police.

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