SPORTS> Off the Pitch
Extra police on standby for England game
(Reuters)
Updated: 2006-06-30 10:11
Extra Portuguese police have been put on standby in the southern Algarve region, which is popular with English tourists, ahead of Saturday's World Cup quarter-final between Portugal and England, police said.

The teams will meet hundreds of miles away in the German city of Gelsenkirchen but Portuguese police are being vigilant after trouble flared in the area, known for its bars, cafes and restaurants, during Euro 2004 which was hosted by Portugal.

"We will pay special attention to what is happening in the bars in the Algarve," lieutenant-colonel Costa Cabral said on Thursday, adding that dozens of extra police officers would be on standby. He did not give any more precise details.

There were clashes between hundreds of drunken English fans and police over two nights in the southern resort of Albufeira during the European Championship two years ago.

At the time, thousands of English supporters, many on family holidays, congregated on the Algarve coast although the England team were based nearly 300 km from the region.