Dortmund, June 19 :

Among the rows and rows of sports journalists at the Kaiserslautern media centre, one man stood out. His black-rimmed glasses, thick lenses and stocky build were instantly recognisable to comedy fans. Drew Carey!! The press pass confirmed that. But what was Carey, the star of a hit sitcom in the US and one of the country’s most successful comedians, doing here? A fan of soccer since he went to a Major League Soccer match in Los Angeles three years ago, Carey said he wouldn’t pass up the opportunity to shoot a World Cup. In addition to shooting at least a dozen games for International Sports Images, Carey is also being followed around by documentary film team for a Travel Channel show called “Drew Carey’s Sporting Adventures.”

Unlucky or stupid?

A thief who stole a woman’s handbag in Munich struck lucky on Sunday when he found it contained a ticket to the World Cup match between Brazil and Australia. His fortunes quickly changed, however, when he took his seat and found he was sitting next to her husband. Police arrested him in the stadium.

A day earlier, a drunk England supporter wearing a Scottish kilt got into a spot of trouble when he started exposing his backside to people in a public viewing area for World Cup matches in Munich. A female police officers noticed his behaviour and followed him to his seat in front of a large screen.

The man was detained by police officers called to the scene and taken to a nearby cell. “The man who was visibly under the influence of alcohol resisted arrested and try to bite an officer in the lower arm,” police said. He was released a few hours later when he had sobered up.

Henry attacks referee

Thierry Henry launched a furious attack on referee Benito Archundia after France’s horror show continued. The Mexican official refused to allow a goal from Patrick Vieira — even though the former Arsenal star’s header was almost a yard over the line. And that howler was compounded eight minutes from time when Manchester United’s Park Ji Sung bundled in a late leveller to cancel out Henry’s opener. Henry raged: “We did not start appealing because it was so obvious. Everyone in the ground could see it. Why he made that decision I do not know — but it was clearly in. Yet boss Raymond Domenech admitted France should not have been relying on a refereeing decision to see off the plucky Koreans.