Bookies clean up

BERLIN: Bookies cleaned up as British punters put some 50 million euros on the outcome of the England versus Portugal encounter, according to William Hill. “It is not unrealistic to believe that this was the biggest ever betting event featuring the England team,” spokesman Graham Sharpe said. “Sadly for all patriotic punters it was also the biggest ever losing match for backers of England, Sharpe said, saying England’s exit was worth some £25 million to the betting industry. One businessman reportedly lost £200,000 after backing Sven-Goran Eriksson’s men to lift the World Cup.

Scuffles on Jersey

BERLIN: English and Portuguese fans were involved in scuffles on the Channel Island of Jersey after Portugal’s World Cup penalty shootout win, with more than 25 arrests. A Jersey police statement said the arrests came after England supporters threw bottles at police lines following their side’s defeat. Ten per cent of Jersey’s population is Portuguese.

What’s in a web name?

BERLIN: A father of a baby boy was so determined to have the child named Gerrard after Liverpool and England star Steven Gerrard that he set up a website to rustle up public support to persuade his wife, who opposed the plan. After some 5,000 hits on www.mybabygerrard.co.uk gerrard just won out over his wife’s alternatives William or Matthew. But in the event, Matt Evans, 29, had to settle for Matthew Gerrard Ingham-Evans after the Register Office told the couple they had to get on with naming the child four weeks after his birth. “There’s no more children planned so we won’t have to go through this again,” said his wife Jenny.

Revenge for Bruno

BERLIN: German fans have not forgotten Bruno, the roaming bear shot by hunters after spreading panic in the south of the country. As toymakers prepare to produce a teddy bear to immortalise the animal, some fans on Berlin’s Fan Mile and at the quarter-final win over Argentina have been waving placards in his memory. “Revenge for Bruno,” read one.