|TOP|Pastors in Germany’s World Cup cities are at the ready to support the thousands of fans who might wish to pray for divine intervention to guide their teams to victory or else turn up for spiritual consolation after a devastating defeat.

“Yes, it is sad when a team loses but we will be there to talk with fans and help remind them of the more important things in life," said Father Matthias Boensmann, a Catholic priest from Dortmund who will be on standby for fans during the World Cup, reports Reuters.

“I hope people come to us for comfort though I'm sure some supporters will still seek solace in alcohol instead," he added.

Fr Boensmann will be on hand to give spiritual assistance to fans in the non-denominational prayer and meditation area of Dortmund’s “Fan Village”, a converted exhibition centre adjacent to the football stadium which will house 4,000 fans during the event.

"It will be an area where people can find peace," he said, adding that faith and football had a lot in common.

|AD|”Football has a lot of religious elements, though it is a pseudo religion which can be dangerous," he said.

"For some football assumes the significance of a god and a religion but you can not build anything lasting on such fanatical belief."

He added that deeply embedded faith of some of the international football players who make a point of crossing themselves before taking penalties or praying for God’s help on the pitch may serve as a good advert for religion and teach more inhibited Christians how to be express their faith, reports Reuters.

Fr Boensmann recalls the stunned silence of German television commentators when the entire Brazilian team got down on its knees in a circle to pray after winning the Confederations Cup.

“They didn’t know what to say,” he said.

Churches across Germany’s World Cup cities are gearing up to make the most of the event and the enormous opportunity to reach out to large numbers of unchurched fans, with programmes packed full of prayer events, special services and World Cup-themed events.