updated 9:26 p.m. ET June 9, 2006

MUNICH - An army of police and stadium guards met tens of thousands of partying soccer fans at the World Cup’s opening games Friday — and aside from scattered arrests, the biggest problem was long lines caused by tight security.

More than 2,800 police from Munich and the surrounding Bavaria region watched downtown areas, where helicopters buzzed above fans wearing jerseys from around the world. Officers on horseback patrolled outside the stadium where Germany played Costa Rica, while others mingled in beer halls.

Munich police reported making 67 arrests, mostly for minor crimes such as pick pocketing. The most serious incident involved an attack by two Germans on a German waving a Danish flag. The man suffered a broken rib.

A spate of racially motivated attacks ahead of the tournament has raised concerns of xenophobic attacks and hooliganism — and there were stirrings of that sentiment Friday.

Hours before the game Munich police said they removed a World Cup banner with swastikas from a highway bridge and in Berlin police said they raided the headquarters of a far-right political party, confiscating about 3,000 World Cup guides with racist overtones.

At Munich’s stadium, all was quiet amid a heavy security presence.

“It all went very smoothly,” German organizing committee spokesman Jens Grittner said. “For the first game of a World Cup, it was excellent.”

Guards checked pockets, bags, even wallets — and confiscated hundreds of bottles, flag poles and video cameras that fans could pick up later.

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Even those who had items temporarily taken didn’t seem upset.

Swantje Wittstock surrendered a bottle of Hugo Boss perfume and wasn’t sure she’d have time to collect it on her way to post-game revelry.

“I don’t mind — you’re not supposed to have glass in the stadium and I just forgot I had it,” Wittstock said. “I think the security is OK if it keeps everything safe.”

Bottlenecked lines at stadium gates eased to a trickle of fans just before kick off.

“The Germans are pretty efficient,” said local resident Sophie Spindler as she entered. “We didn’t think there’d be much trouble.”

Tight security didn’t bother retailers, many of whom had private guards at store entrances.

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“It has been extremely busy,” said Karl Buergl, manager of one of the few shops on a main public square licensed to sell official German team gear. “It’s overwhelming.”

Just like Munich, the city hosting Friday’s other game between Poland and Ecuador also was calm.

Police in Gelsenkirchen didn’t arrest anyone and reported nothing worse than a few broken car windows and a few overturned restaurant tables.

“I can live with this for four weeks, can’t you?” said Gelsenkirchen press spokesman Frank Sobotta.

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Elsewhere, authorities were busy.

In Berlin, police seized literature from the National Democratic Party that warned of foreign infiltration into the national soccer team, said Michael Grunwald, a spokesman for Berlin prosecutors. There were no immediate arrests.

In Frankfurt on Friday night, hours before England’s first match against Paraguay, about 150 English and German fans began taunting one another in one of the city’s main squares.

Police moved in with riot gear and dispersed the crowd. There were no injuries, but arrests were made.

There were also two separate incidents in Frankfurt on Thursday involving English fans.

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Three men were banned from matches after a skirmish with a taxi driver who refused to pick them up at the Cologne airport because they were drunk, authorities said. Police also broke up a skirmish between two English fans and a Greek man in the city’s red-light district.

And in England, four men with histories of unruly behavior at soccer games were detained at the airport. British police have been conducting joint patrols of the country’s ports with counterparts from Germany in hopes of preventing hooligans from traveling to Germany.

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