HAMBURG, Germany (Reuters) - First it was Albanian fans taunting their Italian rivals by snapping uncooked spaghetti in front of them.
Then the Austrians followed suit, breaking baguettes in the faces of French fans before their Euro 2024 clash.
Fans flocking to Germany for the month-long tournament are entertaining themselves with good-natured "food wars" looking every bit as spicy as the games themselves.
As well as the desecration of national foods in the streets - which has sparked more laughter than outrage - food banners are springing up in stadiums.
"Fondue better than goulash" read one at Switzerland v Hungary. "Eat Pasta, Run Fasta," said an Italian poster at the Albanian game. And "Kielbasa (sausage) better than gouda," boasted Polish fans against the Netherlands.
The food insults have, however, so far proved a bad omen.
Albania lost 2-1 to Italy after their pasta-breaking and Austria were beaten 1-0 by the baguette-loving French.
Host nation Germany is counting its blessings that widely-feared hooligan trouble has been minimal, with more snapped pasta and bread than broken bones and bottles.
"Thank God the violence has not been there. Instead we're seeing a lot of fun and banter between fans like these hilarious 'food wars'," said food stall-holder Roland Koch in Hamburg.
"Just don't mess with our 'currywurst' - or else then there will be trouble, I warn you!," he added, referring to the ubiquitous sausage and spicy sauce on sale at his kiosk and seemingly every other street corner in Germany.
(Reporting by Andrew Cawthorne; Additional reporting by Trevor Stynes and Martin Petty, Editing by Ed Osmond)
