Euro 2012 in brief: Craig Thomson to take charge of Denmark v Portugal

The 39-year-old will become the first Scot to officiate at a major tournament since Hugh Dallas’ involvement at 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

Thomson was overlooked for the first batch of matches involving all 16 countries in Poland and Ukraine but his wait for action will end at 5pm on Wednesday at the 35,000-capacity Arena Lviv in Ukraine when both teams lock horns in their second Group B encounter.

Fellow Scots Alasdair Ross and Derek Rose are the assistant referees for the clash, while Willie Collum and Euan Norris are the additional assistant referees. Ukraine’s Viktor Shvetsov is the fourth official.

Beckenbauer envisages a repeat of 2008 final

Germany World Cup winner Franz Beckenbauer is predicting a Germany versus Spain final at Euro 2012.

Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup both as a player and a manager, fancies a repeat of the Euro 2008 final, which Spain won 1-0. After finishing third, second and third in their last three major tournaments, he believes Germany’s current crop of players have what it takes to go all the way. “It is football and anything can happen,” he said. “The ball can hit the inside of the post and bounce out rather than in the goal, but if everything goes according to plan then I can see a Spain-Germany final.”

Poles complain about closed retractable roof

The retractable roof of Warsaw’s national stadium will be opened for the remaining games of Euro 2012, Uefa said at the weekend, saying a much criticised decision to close it for the tournament’s opening game was due to a thunderstorm.

Polish media and officials complained that the humidity in the stadium contributed to a poor second-half performance by the co-hosts who had dominated Greece in the first half with an energetic pressing game. “For sure it cost them a lot in that sauna,” Polish coach Franciszek Smuda said. “I could feel on the bench that it was hot, the conditions were very difficult.”

Bookies expect betting flurry on England game

Bookmakers William Hill are expecting the England versus France match tonight to be the highest turnover football match this year, outstripping the Champions League final and the FA Cup final.

Over £15 million is set to be bet on the game around the world with punters preferring to put their money on England winning the match despite the fact France are the 6/4 favourites. England are 11/5 with the draw 19/10. “We have already had some huge games this year, but we think that this one trumps them all,” said Hill’s spokesman Joe Crilly. “In our shops alone, we estimate that between 250,000 and 300,000 bets will be placed on Monday.”