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Scenes Of Irish Fans At European Soccer Championships Go Viral

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

Let's go now to France, where fan violence has grabbed a lot of the headlines at this summer's European soccer championships. Russian and English fans have been the worst offenders.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

But we want to highlight a group of supporters who now seem to be enjoying this tournament the right way.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) Stand up for the boys in green. Stand up for the boys in green. Stand up for the boys in green.

GREENE: Rachel, that is the sound of the Irish.

MARTIN: (Laughter) Scenes of Irish fans singing and being absolutely just delightful have been going viral on the internet over the past week.

GREENE: Like this good-natured taunting of a group of Sweden fans ahead of their game in Paris.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) Go home to your sexy wives. Go home to your sexy wives. Go home...

GREENE: They're saying sexy wives there, aren't they?

MARTIN: Yes, yes they are. Or this late night street serenading of the French police.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) Stand up for the French police. Stand up for the French police.

GREENE: The Irish are standing up for everyone. They even sang as they cleaned up their bottles after a street party in Porto.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) Clean up for the boys in green. Clean up...

MARTIN: They're so busy. And this video of Irish fans on their knees serenading a young French woman has had over a million views.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) I love you baby. And if it's quite all right, I love you baby.

GREENE: And as if they could not be adorable enough, in a quiet moment, Irish fans sang on a French train to help lull a baby to sleep.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) Twinkle, twinkle little star. How I wonder what you are. Up above...

MARTIN: And at a Paris pub, they sang this sober advice to some of their English counterparts.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) Please don't start the riot. Please don't start the riot. Da-da-da-da...

GREENE: And in yet another viral video there was a group of Irish fans who helped change the flat tire of an elderly Frenchman. And he had this to say.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED FAN: (Speaking French).

MARTIN: Long live Ireland, he said. The Irish team itself may not have much longer to live at this tournament. They look likely to be eliminated after tomorrow's game against Italy. But perhaps it stings a little less if you have Abba and some Swedish fans to sing along with.

GREENE: Let's all take a cue from the Irish.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED FANS: (Singing) You can dance. You can jive, having the time of your life. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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