I've spent the week riding the rails by night and taking in matches by day. One of the week's highlights was Tuesday's trip to the small city of St. Etienne to see Scotland play Morocco. The Scottish supporters, who call themselves the Tartan Army, are a spectacle in themselves, and their defining characteristic is that they're so damned nice . A Family Affair More and more Scots were boarding the train as we got closer to St. Etienne, and the singing was getting louder all the time.
Scottish fans are mild-mannered underneath it all.
Supporters of most teams sing songs of at best questionable taste, but all the songs I heard from the Scots were either from The Sound of Music or harmless lyrics sung to the tune of Presbyterian hymns. And indeed I was amazed to see whole families piling off the train in St. Etienne. The Brazilians are so popular the French postal services have given them their own postal address. Obviously most letters are for Ronaldinho or Ronaldo. The letters are delivered to the team's head of security.