World Cup opening party in Berlin

BERLIN, June 7 (Reuters) - Berlin staged a big party at the Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday to get thousands of fans in the mood for the World Cup and offer a taste of the entertainment cities around Germany have lined up for the tournament.

Fans from nations including Brazil, Paraguay, Poland, Ecuador, Netherlands and Switzerland, many in colourful costumes, mingled with German revellers at the landmark which was once a symbol of the city's Cold War division.

British rock group Simple Minds headlined the concert to welcome visitors for the month-long finals, which begin on Friday when the host nation take on Costa Rica in Munich.

"It's a wonderful feeling that hundreds of thousands of people are coming here, to be welcomed by friends," Berlin mayor Klaus Wowereit told the crowd, which he put at 250,000.

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http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=worldFootballNews&storyID=2006-06-07T195134Z_01_L07094151_RTRIDST_0_SPORT-SOCCER-WORLD-FESTIVAL-PICTURE.XML

Ok, the real opening will of course be the kick-off on Friday. Anyway, technically the event is underway.

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,639930,00.jpg

http://www.spiegel.de/img/0,1020,639927,00.jpg

Those lucky dogs!!