Thousands of extra police lined the streets, bars shut down and Sapporo residents held their collective breath in anticipation of the mass brawl that the media had predicted.
Brawl? What brawl? Trouble? What trouble? Surprise, surprise, the English fans converged on Sapporo en masse and departed en masse without so much as a scratched toenail being reported.
While the perception of the English fans as a weapon of mass destruction that failed to detonate may have shocked many, their behavior was in no way shocking to those in the know -- the fans themselves.