By Mike Woitalla in Dortmund
His cigarette burned down dangerously close to his fluffy mustache as he glanced up at the Polish fans. They held cans of beers in their hands and shouted ''Polska, Polska'' whenever their brethren in white and red shirts moved into the dining car of the train headed to Dortmund.
The Poles on this train come from Warsaw and the mustached smoker who didn't seem bothered by the drunken din was one of the Polish police officers invited by World Cup organizers to what is one of the tournament's high-risk games.
Polish and German hooligans clashed in a prearranged battle last year and the 2,000 German cops assigned to the Dortmund game are ready. Before this train arrived, they detained about 300 German and Polish fans because they were known hooligans or for aggressive behavior; 96 were arrested and 64 were charged.
That stifled the violent element. In the stadium, Polish and German fans in several areas sat side by side. The cheering was hearty and non-stop. It was a friendly scene. Women and children abound.
About 25,000 of the 65,000 fans were Polish supporters, many of whom did not cross the border for the game. One million Poles immigrated to Germany between 1980 and 1991. Among them are Germany's two strikers, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski.
Klose, 28, immigrated at age 8 and Podolski, 21, at age 6. The duo often speaks Polish while on the field. Podolski said before the game that he knew the words to both national anthems, but would sing neither.
Klose has scored 26 times in 56 appearances for Germany, including five at the last World Cup and two in the 2006 opener. Two years ago, Podolski, believed to have world-class potential, became the third youngest German national team debutant.
But neither found the target against Poland. The Germans played poorly for most of the first hour, and when they hit their stride, they suffered from bad luck and the strong goalkeeping of Artur Boruc.
At the 90-minute mark, the host country was headed for disaster. A scoreless tie seemed likely until David Odonkor connected with Oliver Neuville for the winning goal — Okonkor, son of Ghanaian father and a German mother, to Neuville, who was born in Switzerland to a German father and an Italian mother and who required a translator when he was first called into the national team.
Now Neuville is a German hero. His goal clinched passage for the hosts to the knockout phase, though they must beat red-hot Ecuador in their final Group A game next Tuesday if they are to avoid a probable second-round clash with England.
In the Dortmund city center, thousands of fans, Poles and Germans, partied until the early mornings of the hours. The police were everywhere, watching casually, looking bored.