More than 300 people were arrested as the worst violence of the 2006 World Cup so far broke out in Dortmund before Germany's game with Poland.
Trouble flared in the city centre where thousands of German and Polish supporters had spent yesterday afternoon drinking heavily in a square.
Police detain a German soccer fan after the World Cup 2006 soccer match between Poland and Germany in Dortmund last night.
Hundreds of riot police were deployed as thugs threw bottles and chairs at police and each other in Dortmund's Alter Markt.
The problems began when riot police moved in to the square to arrest a group of known German hooligans, including skinheads and some with neo-Nazi tattoos, who had been identified by spotters.
The police were met by groups of German fans chanting and throwing bottles and other groups of drunken supporters then also attacked the police. Dozens were arrested, cuffed with plastic ties and placed in two large green prison buses. At least one had face injuries.
Then, as large numbers of fans moved towards the nearby Friedens-Platz, where a giant screen was about to show the game, there were several small fights between Polish and German fans who threw bottles and punches at each other.
Several German fans, one draped in a national flag, were wrestled to the ground by police, handcuffed and placed in the prison vans. Later, special police units, armed and dressed in black body armour and balaclavas, chased hooligans through the city's main square, the Hansa-Platz, and side streets.
Police took a no-nonsense approach which contrasted with the "softly, softly" tactics used to deal with
Hans Schulze, head of police in Dortmund.
rowdy England supporters in Frankfurt last week. At a press conference in the early hours of this morning Hans Schulze, head of police in Dortmund, said: "In the square we tried to arrest some known people and other hooligans tried to free them. That was a difficult situation.
"Most fans were there to have a good time. Unfortunately, there were also a lot of fans who were aggressive and violent.
"We had a lot of work to do but I think we managed. I think it was a very difficult day for police but we handled it."
He said roughly half of those arrested were Germans and half Polish. About 100 of those held were hooligans and many of the others were people who had simply drunk too much and become aggressive, he said.