Soccer-Euro-Police arrest seven German fans in Klagenfurt

(Adds detail from German police spokesman)

By Alexandra Hudson

KLAGENFURT, June 7 (Reuters) - Austrian police arrested seven German fans on Saturday night in Euro 2008 host city Klagenfurt after the mood between a group of German and Polish fans turned hostile, police said in a statement.

Germany play Poland in a much anticipated game in Group B on Sunday, and police are braced for a possible repeat of the trouble seen in the German city of Dortmund, which led to some 400 arrests, when the teams met at the 2006 World Cup.

Klagenfurt police said the fans, drinking in the town centre, had first traded verbal insults.

"After the mood between the groups of fans each numbering around 100 became sufficiently aggressive police stepped in to calm things and prevent any escalation," police said.

A spokesman for the German police working in Klagenfurt said fans had hurled plastic beer containers and there had been minor scuffles. Police then separated the fans for a time.

Earlier on Saturday, an Austrian police spokesman said only several thousand fans had so far arrived in the city but about 60,000 are expected on Sunday, around half of whom will go to the stadium.

Heavy rain poured down in Klagenfurt for most of the evening, and fans were forced to scurry for shelter.