My World Cup has so far been a tale of two cities. And two bars. The first city is Bordeaux, the bar Chez Auguste. The second is Marseille, the bar Olympique Marseille.

A pipe band played outside the Chez Auguste on Tuesday night as scores of Scots, Norwegians and locals danced outside while supping endless amounts of beer.

The Tartan Army had brought Bordeaux to life and the Norwegians were also doing their utmost towards nudging the sleepy city awake. The two groups had already swapped shirts in Parc Lescure,shaken hands and danced together after the 1-1 draw as the Tannoy blared out Buffalo Soldier.

Outside Chez Auguste Norwegian fans wolf-whistled at the Scots who jigged to the bagpipes, danced the Highland fling and then turned their backs to the crowd to lift their kilts. Butthe loudest cheer of the night erupted when a group of about 10 Scots decided to lie on the pavement to sing "Liedown if you hate England".

The Tartan Army know how to party and Bordeaux was a hospitable venue for their fiesta. It began in the morning outside the Irish pub in the centre of the city where Scots and Norwegians gathered under a giant St Andrew's Cross flag that read: "Jacques Chirac is a Scotsman."

They climbed monuments and danced in the elegant boulevards. There was hardly a policeman in sight, barely an angry word as the Scots whetted their appetite with beer and the thought of qualifying for the second round.

But they partied as if they had a point to prove, the point being that they wanted to show they were not like English fans. This was Scots diplomacy at its best. ``It 's what we want to show," roared Philip, a 28-year-old Glaswegian, outside Chez Auguste. ``We're going to be even nicer now ," he added before leading another chorus of "Are you watching, Eng-erland?". It wasall so different from my other bar, the Olympique Marseille. Same country, different city, different world. The OM, as it is known locally, lies at the heart of the city, in the old port area overlooking the harbour, and is a monument to Marseille's beloved football team.

And then they arrived. They gathered out side the OM singing ``Eng-erland, Eng-erland." As the afternoon wore on and the beer took hold, the songs became louder, the lyrics more offensive. Suddenly they attacked the South Africans, who were sitting outside the bar. It was a minor skirmish compared with what was to follow, but significant enough to dampen the atmosphere.

Moments later beer was thrown and a local was attacked. When the mob started signing ``No surrender to the IRA " and giving Nazi salutes, I knew it was time to leave. That night the OM closed early. For the next two days the city's pride and joy remained closed.

And, as I brace myself for the next England game in Toulouse on Monday and look forward to the nextScotland game in St Etienne the following night, both of which I shall attend, I realise that, until now, it has been a World Cup of two songs. For an hour after the Scotland game, thousands of fans stayed in the ground singing "Doe, a deer ". Leaving the OM , all I could hear around me was so-called England fans singing "We 're white and we 're proud of it".

Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.