Fans display national pride

The soccer stars at the World Cup in Germany might look sleek, sporty and downright regal in their team uniforms, but, as fashion goes, it’s the fans who are having more fun.

Spotted on the sidelines:

•Ivory Coast officials and fans have been wearing garments that look cut from the same cloth, featuring a green and orange design. On it, small soccer balls emanate green rays emanate on a white background, sunburst-style, with names of players beneath each one. In between the balls are cartoon elephants in a playful stance on their hind legs, picking up on the elephants screened on the team uniforms. Other designs on the fabric include a rendering of the World Cup trophy in gold.

•Some Mexican fans are donning wrestling masks — maybe in solidarity with “Nacho Libre,” the new Jack Black movie about a monastery cook who raises money for orphans by secretly competing as a Mexican wrestler?

•The personal style of the coaches ranges from the suave suit Mexican coach Ricardo Lavolpe wore in the match against Iran, to the button-down shirt, open almost to the navel, that Togo coach Otto Pfister wore with jeans and a chunky gold necklace on the sidelines of the game against South Korea.

• Imagine packing this in a suitcase: One Australian fan donned a head-to-toe furry kangaroo costume.

•There’s no monopoly on good — or bad — taste since colored acrylic mohawk wigs can be seen in the crowds of almost every game.