PHOTO: The English Drink and Spend a Lot

Although English football fans are famous causing riots, Zagreb hopes the atmosphere will be pleasant.

ZAGREB, CROATIA – To accompany their national team in the most important game in the world, English football fans headed out for the Croatian capital, where they will be welcomed by merry Zagreb caterers, always prepared to play hosts. Even though the English are famous for gulping down hectolitres of beer, perspiration, severely cheering on, as well as causing riots, this does not worry Zagreb caterers, as they said because they know from experience that everything will be smooth.

- Police patrol here every 30 minutes and there are never riots. Fans have a few drinks after the match and that`s it. We never ran out of beer and expect more guests, as always. We will be open half an hour longer because the police will not allow more – said the waiter at the LOKinn café, only a few metres away from the Maksimir stadium, where Croatia and England will play a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.

“The English were excellent guests last year”

As the police carefully monitor every step around the stadium, English fans will be stationed in the city centre, just like last year. Café Argentina has a British flag flying next to a Croatian one, welcoming the fans.

- They were excellent guests last year, they acted on a very high cultural and human level. There weren`t any problems and we expect a pleasant atmosphere now as well – said the owner of the Argentina café, Nikola Brajkovic, judging by experience.

Seeing how the English fans prefer beer, we set out for the Mali Medo pub, where manager Robert Covic told us they will take them in.

- Our capacity is from 80 to 100 seats and we have various types of beer: Gold and Dark Bear, Gric Witch, Two Ears and the Black Queen. They were here last year, singing and drinking beer. They love our beer, especially dark beer. There were no disorders – Covic told us.

A happy bunch that we meet at the Buldog café proved they were beer fans. As they came straight from the airport, several of them sat down in the café and ordered beer. With a smile on their face, they told us they were from Ipswich and that this was not their first time in Zagreb.

- We arrived at 9 a.m. We were here a couple of years ago, it`s great, we like the city. We expect the result will be 0:0. We`ll be second in the group  - said 38-year-old David Finn, whose friend added England will go to the final.

All in all, Zagreb caterers are ready to welcome the English hooligans, seeing how there were no incidents last year.