Germany hopes soccer will eclipse trouble in Slovakia

BRATISLAVA, Oct 10 (Reuters) Germany coach Joachim Loew and captain Michael Ballack said today they hoped soccer would be the focus of Wednesday's Euro 2008 Group D match against Slovakia after warnings about possible crowd trouble.

''Football should take centre stage tomorrow,'' Loew said at a news conference in Bratislava. ''That's what we are hoping for and we are trying with the players to achieve that,'' said Loew.

When Germany last played Slovakia away, in September 2005, around 500 German hooligans fought with local police after their team lost 2-0. Six people were injured, one seriously.

Team manager Oliver Bierhoff warned on Monday that around 500 potential troublemakers were attempting to travel from Germany to the match in Bratislava.

A number of officials from the German soccer association (DFB) and eight police officers from a specialist sports action squad were travelling to the Slovakian capital to help with the security operation, the DFB said in a statement.

In addition, German fans were only able to buy tickets made available by the DFB for the match from the national team's fan club, it added.

However, it said that the Slovakian soccer association had ignored a request not to sell tickets to German fans. Ballack told reporters on Tuesday he was confident the DFB was doing everything to ensure things went smoothly on Wednesday. He too said he hoped football would be the focus and that no hooligans would gain access to the stadium.

''We know what happened last year and are of course hoping that nothing will happen again,'' Ballack said.

Croatian media reported on Tuesday that their national team's match with England on Wednesday would be played amid tight security to prevent violence.

UEFA have also issued a reminder that any racism at grounds could result in expulsions from the competition.

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