Football fans are praised by police in Shropshire
Police in Shropshire today praised England fans for their good behaviour during and after the World Cup opener against Italy.
Fans packed into pubs and bars on Saturday across Shropshire and Mid Wales.
West Mercia Police reported "no major issues", with just a couple of arrests.
Thousands of England fans crammed into pubs across Shropshire to see the Three Lions kick off England's World Cup adventure in Brazil.
But the night ended in disappointment as there was a stumble in the jungle and England went down 2-1 to Italy.
Yet fans in the Charles Darwin, Shrewsbury, were hopeful this would not signal the end of England's World Cup dream.
Vic Jordan, from Sutton Road in Shrewsbury, said: "I think this was a tough game but I think we will qualify for the next round and I can still see us getting to the quarter finals."
Colin Baker, also from Sutton Road, said: "Italy was our hardest opponent in this group and I am confident we can still do the job and reach the next round at least."
Throughout the day on Saturday many people across the county were donning shirts, flying flags from cars – and in the build-up to the game pub juke boxes were blasting World Cup songs like Baddiel and Skinner's Three Lions, World in Motion and Vindaloo.
Rob Davies, 33, from Meole Brace, said after the match: "It was disappointing not to get off to a good start, and I think we deserved something out of the game.
"But it wasn't to be and I can certainly see us getting points from our other two games if we play the way we did."
James Tudor, 28, also from Meole Brace, said: "The young players did OK, and I really don't think Italy deserved all three points. This group will be hard to get out of, but I still think someone – hopefully us – can get out of it in second place with four points."
England's next game is against Uruguay on Thursday at 8pm with the loser almost certain to face elimination.
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