English fans show positive side

England fans do their best to project a positive image

English fans helped raise money for the victims of a fireworks explosion by playing football against their Dutch counterparts in Eindhoven.

Eighteen people were killed when the blast occurred at a fireworks warehouse last month in Enschede.

Nearly 1,000 were injured and 400 houses were also destroyed.

It comes as good news as fans gather for Monday night's game against Portugal. As many as 17,000 England fans are expected, of whom 10,000 will not have tickets.

Police in the main Markt square have confirmed that there will be no ban on drinks before the game.

We were in large numbers and decided to make arrests to prevent the situation from escalating

A police spokesman after 18 Dutch fans were arrested in The Hague

Dutch police have cordoned off the area immediately around the ground and have erected steel fencing to channel fans around.

Just one England fan was arrested overnight in Eindhoven but four Britons were detained in Ostend for causing damage to a car and will now miss the game unless they pay for repairs.

A number of England fans were stopped at the border and not allowed in and more than 50 known or suspected German hooligans were also prevented from entering Belgium by border police.

And 18 Dutch fans were arrested in The Hague when celebrations after their 1-0 win over the Czech Republic got out of hand.

Fans are said to have broken windows or ignored police orders.

"We were in large numbers and decided to make arrests to prevent the situation from escalating," said police spokesman Ron Kouwenhoven.