Soccer Shorts

■ Beer
Brewery toasts German run

German fans are excited over their team's run to the World Cup quarterfinals, and the owner of three major breweries has another reason to celebrate. The Oetker Gruppe, which owns three breweries, said that its keg beer sales have been up by 30 to 40 percent during the tournament. "We're selling 7.5 million liters of beer every day," breweries manager Ulrich Kallmeyer said. "If the German team gets through to the next round, the volume is up 10 percent each time."

■ Fans

Henry slams Spanish fans

France striker Thierry Henry said he was upset that Spanish fans whistled during the French national anthem before Tuesday's second-round World Cup match, which France won 3-1. "I think it's a shame that Spanish fans booed our national anthem. That's something we should talk about," the Arsenal striker told reporters after the game. "I haven't heard something like that before. We didn't boo their national anthem." The main section of red-clad Spanish fans whistled and booed when the Marseillaise was piped over the sound system, with both teams standing at the center of the field.

■ Thailand

Cup causes power surge

The soccer-mad are spending millions of dollars more on electricity this month as they stay up through the night to watch World Cup matches, the nation's biggest utility said yesterday. In the first 19 days of the World Cup, Thailand spent an extra 304.4 million baht (US$7.9 million) on power compared with average use during the year, the Electricity Generating Authority said. The company said it believed the most-watched match so far was the second-round clash between Germany and Sweden, when electricity use spiked to the highest level of the month.