England to get Frisk inspection

Alan Shearer celebrates as Anders Frisk (right) looks on

Swedish official Anders Frisk has been named as the referee to take charge of England's opening Euro 2000 game against Portugal in Eindhoven on Monday.

The 37-year-old Gothenburg-born official may turn out to be a lucky omen for England, who beat Belgium in a game he officiated last October.

Frisk also controversially called off the Uefa Cup third round first leg clash between Spartak and Leeds in Moscow last November because of a frozen pitch.

Frisk, however, has never refereed at a major international competition before.

Scotland's Hugh Dallas - tipped by many to take charge of the Euro 2000 final - will referee the second match of the tournament between Turkey and Italy on Sunday.

Graham Poll, the only English referee in the competition, joins the fray on 16 June when France, the world champions, take on Euro 96 runners-up Czech Republic.

Germany's Markus Merk has been handed the honour of taking charge of Saturday's opening game in Brussels between Belgium and Sweden, with England's Philip Sharp acting as one of his assistants.