Dutch praise behaviour of England fans

England fans were in a sombre mood after defeat

The Dutch city of Eindhoven enjoyed a quiet night as sombre England fans mourned their team's 3-2 defeat by Portugal.

There were no reports of trouble following the game on Monday and only two arrests involving English fans, one for insulting police and another for allegedly hitting someone with a flagpole.

But some supporters were strongly criticised by the Football Association for their attitude inside the stadium.

This is good for England and this was great for Eindhoven

Dr Rein Welschen, Eindhoven Mayor

Fans were reported to have subjected members of Kevin Keegan's side to "disgusting foul-mouthed abuse" as they left the pitch.

Striker David Beckham is said to have responded to the taunts with a flick of his fingers.

'Not England fans'

FA spokesman Steve Double said he would hesitate to describe the group responsible as England fans.

"We would have liked to have seen them arrested for their behaviour," he said.

Defeated and dejected: England fans cannot believe the result

"Although they were clearly English, they were not from a sector reserved for the England Members' Club and we would like to disassociate ourselves from the sort of behaviour that they displayed."

Mr Double said the troublemakers may have been drunk.

UEFA is also said to be looking into the alleged incident involving Beckham.

The player escaped disciplinary action for a similar incident during a club match earlier this season, when a Leeds fan was said to be verbally abusing his pop-star wife and baby.

Low profile

The majority of England fans were downcast but well behaved following last night's result, a severe blow to England's hopes for success in the Euro 2000 tournament.

They walked out of the stadium in an orderly fashion, leaving their Portuguese counterparts to celebrate in the stands.

Thousands of fans streamed into the centre of the Dutch city where they joined ticketless supporters who had watched the match in bars.

More than 12,000 England supporters had travelled to Eindhoven, although only 7,000 had tickets for the match.

Before the game each fan was searched briefly by security staff as they entered the stadium.

A police source said no weapons had been found before the game started.

During the game there appeared to be no trouble between rival fans and the 2,100 police officers on duty kept a low profile.

Segregated

A minority of Portuguese fans were segregated from English supporters on one side of the stadium by a small number of police officers.

English fans were praised for their behaviour in Eindhoven

Those arrested after the match included a 39-year-old man from York for allegedly calling a policeman names.

A 34-year-old man from London was also being questioned after an alleged incident with a flagpole, though police tonight dismissed the incident as "tomfoolery gone too far".

NCIS said that five more Britons were turned away from the tournament during the day, taking the total towards 20.

All five had football-related convictions, the NCIS spokesman said.

The city's mayor, Dr Rein Welschen said that on the whole English supporters had been extremely well-behaved.

"This is good for England and this was great for Eindhoven," he said.