The German soccer chief renewed warnings not to purchase tickets on Ebay or risk being disappointed at the gate. World Cup organizers, meanwhile, made available another 42,000 tickets for the month-long finals.

If your attempts to buy World Cup tickets via the official method, e.g. through FIFA or a national soccer association, have failed so far, the temptation to purchase tickets on the black market or over the Internet is great. To prevent a World Cup ticket bazaar from flourishing, however, German organizers have personalized tickets.

This has not hindered owners of the cherished goods from hawking their wares on Ebay. On the Online auction house's German site, prices for matches such as Brazil vs. Australia or host Germany against Poland are fetching far over 400 euros, several times the official price.

German Soccer Association chief Theo Zwanziger warned that the purchasers are "running a risk. (They're) going to the stadium under a false name … and runs the risk of being turned away."

When confronted with a reporter's suggestion that stadium officials will only be able to perform random identity checks at the venues, Zwangiger pointed out that if the security situation is deemed critical, and the word is out that fans are going to the stadiums without officially issued tickets, checks will be intensified.

"And then those who don't have (official tickets) will be spotted, and then they'll have paid a lot of money and they'll be sent home. So I'd advise them to spare themselves the frustration," he added.

The world soccer governing body FIFA has criticized the German organizers for ticket sale process. President Sepp Blatter has said he feared people would be standing in lines outside the stadiums while the first goal has already been scored inside.

Needless to say, the organizers of the World Cup have released 42,495 tickets that had been returned to FIFA. The tickets can be purchased online at the tournament's official Web site.