I ask myself the same question marv. I simply don't understand why people get so violent before, during, and after soccer games. Is it a matter of pride, or what? I wish somebody would explain it to me.
Any game that is popular among the 'common people', when played on the international stage, is capable of acting as a vehicle for nationalism and racism. If people really want their national football team to win and are drunk, then the feelings of frustration and anger they feel if it looses are very real. All it takes is a ringleader, who is often a racist or a fascist, to incite them to take action. Look at the photos above - many of the rioters are skinheads.
The skinheads are involved in several fascist organisations and they were reponsible for some serious racial attacks recently in Moscow, especially around Hitler's birthday. No doubt, they incite the other fans to acts of violence, we have seen this in England many times. Its a good job there weren't a coachload of Japenese tourists sightseeing in Moscow during the game! I wonder if the number of racial attacks on Japenese and Chinese people will increase in Russia over the next few weeks.