For many foreign policemen, being assigned to work hand in hand with their German colleagues during the World Cup was more pleasure than business.

"We felt we were really welcome here," said Robert Evans, head of the British delegation, on Thursday. "It was like being at home, only better. And the motto was: 'A time to make friends.' No question about it, we made lots of new friends in Germany."

The mission of the 320 foreign policemen is judged to have been highly successful. According to German Interior Minister Wolfgang Schäuble, it helped the World Cup participants feel safe.

"The overall atmosphere at the World Cup was such that the concerns, which some people had before the championship started about potential security problems or about the police presence getting in the way of people having fun -- did not materialize," Schäuble said. "We have experienced in a wonderful way that enjoyment and safety are no opposites."

Parlez-vous français?

Officers from 13 European countries came to Germany to help German authorities boost security during the four-week tournament. They were particularly busy on the days when their home countries -- for example, England, Italy, Poland, Sweden or the Netherlands -- were playing.

German police officials believed that was the most sensible thing to do, since angry or upset fans would show more respect for an officer from their own country who spoke their own language.

"I probably spoke with hundreds or thousands of English fans," Evans said. "And they were all impressed to see English policemen in Germany. Most of them though it was a good idea."

There were, however, some cases of mistaken identity in which the fans must have wondered if they had perhaps had too much beer that day.

"I would like to thank the German people for being so friendly towards us," said the head of the Dutch delegation Gisbertus Vermeulen. "Some of them were surprised by the new German uniform, while the Dutch were surprised by how well the German police spoke Dutch."

The best team

The cooperation of European policemen should continue in the future, perhaps already at the 2008 European soccer championship in Switzerland and Austria.

"For me, this was a great experience because the European Championship will take place in Austria and Switzerland in 2008," said Austrian police officer Bernhard Graver. "We'll be able to use there the insights we've gained here."

Whether their uniform was blue with golden stripes, olive green or dark gray, the international cops -- in addition to doing their job -- got to witness all the fun and revelry that made this World Cup so special.

"We are looking forward to the great finals match between France and Italy," Schäuble said. "Germany and Portugal will show on Saturday that the losers of the semifinals are as strong as the winners and that the World Cup deserves not one but 32 winners. But the best team was the team of the European policemen."