PORTUGAL: In what appears to be a non-football related incident, 28-year-old Englishman Stephen Smith was stabbed to death in downtown Lisbon early yesterday morning, just hours after England's Euro 2004 win against Croatia. Paddy Agnew reports from Guimares
Mr Smith, who was from Wolverhampton, was stabbed to death in a street off Rossio Square after a scuffle with a would-be Ukrainian pickpocket, who was subsequently arrested.
The killing took place around 5 a.m. when many English fans were still out on the streets, celebrating their side's 4-2 win over Croatia.
The incident was in sharp contrast to the street party atmosphere in the Portuguese capital where thousands of English and Croatian fans mingled after the match without any problems.
"I must emphasise that this is not a football-related incident," said Supt Mick Treble of West Midlands Police yesterday.
"This is a tragic incident in which a young man who was fulfilling his dream of travelling the world has died," he added.
England fans who had been in Rossio Square early yesterday morning confirmed that Mr Smith's killer had already caused problems for various fans.
Londoner Mr Haskell Noah told BBC News that there had been about 200 England fans outside bars in the Rua Augusta when the stabbing took place, saying: "This guy had been coming up and down for hours trying to take people's wallets and everyone was fed up with him."
The would-be pickpocket pulled a knife when confronted by Mr Smith, after he had attempted to rob the young Englishman. "Next thing, a girl was screaming and police came running across to arrest the attacker as he ran away.
"It's horrible to hear that the guy had died. That was such a terrible end to a fantastic evening," he said.
Yesterday a British Foreign Office spokesman said that Monday night in Lisbon had otherwise been "completely peaceful" thus confirming what was evident to those of us who were out and about in downtown Lisbon. Namely, that the city was in party atmosphere with not even the chronic shortage of post-match taxis and a delay on the underground able to undermine the widespread good humour of both English and Croatian fans.
Despite the concerns of British and Portuguese police and of event organisers, UEFA, over possible English fan violence, the Euro 2004 Championships have so far passed off relatively peacefully.