All the officers patrolling the tournament's 12 cities probably haven't hurt, either.

"The whole country is in a celebratory mood and that's not the sort of base that discontent can grow from," said Michael Endler, spokesman for the federal police wing that is coordinating security.

"But success has many fathers and we can't forget the police and those who have kept the public viewing areas safe," he added.

The threat of hooligan violence was a major theme leading up to the competition's June 9 start, when the first of an expected million-plus fans began zigzagging around the country to dozens of host cities.

Trouble at previous soccer tournaments in Europe and flare ups involving German and Polish fans at local matches made organizers understandably wary.

At the 2000 European Championship, hundreds of rioting Britons were arrested in Belgium. At the 1998 World Cup, German hooligans beat a French policeman to near death and England fans rioted in Marseille.

The only serious trouble surrounding the Germany-Poland match June 14 in Dortmund, which many had circled as potentially explosive,was one clash between officers and what police described as German hooligans. It resulted in 148 arrests but few injuries. In all, 430 people were arrested but none was deemed dangerous enough to hold much more than 12 hours.

On Saturday, riot police in Stuttgart arrested more than 500 England fans who hurled bottles and plastic chairs in separate outbursts, but by Monday nearly all of them had been released.

Given previous outbursts of violence at previous tournaments, Endler said the fears held by organizers haven't held true.

However, he said police would still maintain a readiness as the quarterfinals were set to begin on Friday and Saturday.

"We'll be ready," Endler said.

Some 260,000 German police officers have been mobilized for the World Cup, which ends July 9. Reinforcements from Britain, Poland, Argentina and elsewhere have also been brought in to help back them up.