Security Risks Reassessed as US World Cup Team Arrives

Security will be tight around coach Bruce Arena's squad due to the risk of attacks from Islamic extremists, although the German government has said it has no information of specific threats.

German security agencies do not believe World Cup teams will be targeted by terrorists and are more concerned by the possibility of an attack on crowds of fans, Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble said in an interview published Saturday.

Schäuble said security officials consider that a repeat of the 1972 Munich Olympics massacre -- when 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by Palestinian militants -- was unlikely at the June 9 to July 9 extravaganza.

"I don't believe that there will be any kind of situation such as 1972, an attack on a team, or athletes being taken hostage," Schäuble said in Saturday's edition of the Süddeutsche Zeitung daily.

Crowds not teams present most likely target

But Schäuble said authorities were more concerned at ensuring security for the large gatherings of supporters who will watch World Cup matches on huge screens erected in public places across the country.

"This time, the World Cup is everywhere because we are going to have giant screens set up where people are going to gather," he said. "If there are going to be attacks, they are not going to be against the teams or players but against these gatherings."

Uneasiness at maintaining public order where fans gather was heightened after a rampage on May 26 by a knife-wielding teenager in Berlin that left 36 people injured.

The attack took place as half a million people filed away from an opening ceremony for the city's new Lehrter Bahnhof railway station, touted as Europe's largest international rail hub.

"You can't really prevent something such as this happening," Schäuble said.

However authorities would consider banning the sale of alcohol in and around World Cup stadiums if "circumstances demanded," Schäuble said.