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Euro 2000 enters quarterfinal stage |
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June 25, 2000
AMSTERDAM (AP) - One week after Euro 2000 was turned into a stage for hooligans, it was fun and games as fans from Turkey and Portugal mingled in a colorful blend ahead of their quarterfinal clash Saturday.
Only a near incessant downpour dampened the spirits of the fans, but Portuguese soccer authorities did their best to brighten things up. They provided an open-top bus in the green-red national colorsthat carried the nation's soccer legend Eusebio and a jazz band through the streets of downtown Amsterdam.
Ahead of the 6 p.m. (1600GMT) kickoff, there was a party atmosphere as fans from Turkey and Portugal mingled with shoppers and tourists in front of the royal palace on the central Dam square.
A juggler wearing a floppy top hat in the Portuguese colors entertained fans in the red-and-white colors of Turkey while a Dixieland band in the orange colors of the co-host competed with Portuguese musicians.
Turkish and Portuguese fans stood in line to have their faces painted by makeup artists who set up stall in the square.
In the early afternoon, there were about equal numbers of Portuguese and Turkish fans. They posed together for television cameras as a spirit of soccer camaraderie spread across the city.
A small number of Dutch riot police kept a discreet presence.
In Charleroi, Belgium, hundreds of fans were detained last week before and after the clash between England and Germany. On the eve of the match, hooligan riots involving English fans destroyed part of the center of Brussels.
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