The man, wearing an England shirt, was finally stopped by David Beckham, who prevented him confronting members of the team.The incident was just moments after princes William and Harry paid a visit to the dressing room, telling the players “they still believe England can go through”. On the evidence of last night’s performance, many fans may disagree.But the security lapse will inevitably raise concerns.“It is unacceptable,” an FA spokesman said of the incident, saying the fan had delivered “some verbals”.He said: “Thankfully there was no serious harm done. We have complained strongly to FIFA.”It may well have been unacceptable, Fifa’s security may well have been tissue-thin, but in truth England were lucky they were not confronted by 40,000 fans in the cloistered retreat of their dressing room.This was a performance as poor as England have mustered under Fabio Capello’s leadership, a stumbling, error-strewn catalogue of misplaced passes and inept tactical thinking. Indeed, so poor was it, it prompted a first for this World Cup.As the referee blew the final whistle a most unexpected sound filled the steel and glass magnificence of the stadium: human voices. It may have been the collective booing of disappointed England fans, but after a week sound tracked by the unceasing honk of the vuvuzelas, it was rather reassuring to hear a sound that did not emanate from the end of a plastic cone.Not that Wayne Rooney was similarly moved. He angrily complained to the television camera as he left the pitch about the fans’ reaction. But then he didn’t throw huge amounts of money into the teeth of a recession just to be here to witness this farrago. Thousands had done just that, only to be royally let down by the men whose vast wages they pay.Yet, it had started so well. As always, the England fans arriving in Africa’s southernmost tip had travelled on a surge of unfounded optimism. All along the gentrified seafront of this most beautiful city they had spent the day, drinking in the midwinter mildness (plus copious amounts of the local brew).Most had stationed themselves outside Mitchells Brewery, a warehouse converted into a drinking barn, just a stagger, totter and splash from the quayside. Here the St George crosses were laid out against the harbour wall to mark out territory. The flags namechecked places evocative of solid, yeoman, middle England.A group of lads stood around decked out in full Crusader costume. Where had they come from? From, as the flags suggested, Chelmsford, Chinnor or Cheltenham?“No, we come from Jo’Burg,” said one, who sounded about as English as Kevin Pietersen. “We flew down today.”The South African accented St George was not alone. Along the quayside, the expats swelled the England support. You could tell who they were. They stood slightly to one side of the drinking core, taking footage on their mobile phone, savouring their union with the mythical barmy army, while at the same time being uncertain of some of its practices.One of the crusaders, for instance, seemed unsure of the political niceties when a chant broke out about the refusal to cede surrender to the IRA. You could understand his reluctance: when you live in the Rainbow Nation, the urge is entirely to forget the past and look forward.Which is something those fans who journeyed from England will find hard to do after this. Looking forward to lifting the trophy always seemed wildly misplaced. But now just qualifying from their group appears a mission beyond this team.Watching the players scramble about from up in the pricey seats, even Princes William and Harry looked as if they wished they had been able to stop off at Mitchells on the way. Well, you needed something to calm the nerves during a display as woeful as this.After the USA and Slovenia had drawn earlier in the day, here was the chance for England to dominate their qualifying group. But the players appeared reluctant to take it, nervy and fidgety and not finding any fluency.Rooney in particular looked as if he had been replaced by a leaden-footed doppelganger, so poor was his touch and distribution. Never mind booing, frankly he was lucky the crowd were not chucking rotten veg in his direction.Fabio Capello, the perpetually frowning national coach, was afterwards moved to say he had no idea why his players had performed so badly. It was hardly reassuring.Now the bitter and bewildered band of supporters moves on to Port Elizabeth, hoping against all expectation for a miraculous change of gear by their team against Slovenia. The sensible have already booked their return flights.Though, in an opening phase of the competition in which several of Europe’s leading nations have performed with uncharacteristic incompetence, they will be buoyed only by this thinnest of consolations: at least they don’t follow France

(Telegraph )

England, Algeria fans in battle of the bards in Cape Town

Thousands of England and Algerian fans dropped anchor in Cape Town’s historic waterfront on Thursday, facing off in a good-natured singing contest on the eve of their teams’ World Cup showdown.As England supporters gathered in an Irish pub chanted: “England Til I Die” and “You Are Ya?”, their Algerian counterparts responded with spirited cries of “Viva Algeria 1-2-3″, joking with each other and posing for joint photographs.Friday night’s game at Green Point stadium is a sell-out, and England fans are expected to be firmly in the majority with a large expatriate population in the south African parliamentary capital.”There does not seem to be any aggression,” said Roger King, a supporter from the central English city of Birmingham.England fans have in the past had a reputation for hooliganism but British police accompanying the supporters to South Africa say the page has been turned and there were no reports of major problems at England’s last game against the United States in the town of Rustenburg.Provincial police spokesman Colonel Andre Traut said there had been no reports of trouble. “Everything is quiet. No incidents have been reported,” he told AFP.”One person can spark trouble, but it depends on what you’ve come for,” said King. “We have spent a lot of money to get here and the last thing you want to do is spend time in a South African prison.”His friend Pete Balac, also from Birmingham, said that times had changed and that genuine supporters made those looking for trouble unwelcome.”It’s a lot less socially acceptable,” he said.Algerian fans were involved in some of the worst violence at an international match in years when they clashed with Egyptian supporters during the play-off which saw them qualify for the tournament.But Algerian fans in Cape Town said they expected no trouble with the English.”We have had our pictures taken with them — it’s about fair play,” said Mustapha Nordine, originally from Algeria but who now lives in Paris.After a 1-0 defeat to Slovenia, Algeria face an uphill task to stay in the tournament and must win against the English.”We have come for the three first round matches,” said Nordine. “It would be a miracle if we stayed longer.”

( haaba.com )

Rooney blasts booing England fans

The Football Association has made a complaint to World Cup organisers Fifa after a fan breached security and entered the England dressing room.

The incident came after England’s 0-0 draw with Algeria in Group C at the Cape Town Stadium.The intruder was escorted out shortly after a “few verbals” but the incident has angered the security-conscious FA.”This is not acceptable and thankfully no serious harm was done,” read an FA statement on Friday evening.Princes William and Harry, who have been on a tour of southern Africa, were in attendance in Cape Town and had been present in the dressing room after the match.However, both members of the Royal family had left the dressing room by the time of the security breach.

( BBC Football )