Hot-tempered Romanian Gheorghe Hagi hit out at the Euro 2000 organisers on his arrival at Charleroi airport ... because there was no welcoming committee for him.

'Where are the UEFA people who should be looking after us?' said the 35-year-old midfielder.

'It's a lack of respect that they have left us waiting in customs so long. Why have they checked our passports as if we were the lowest of the low? We aren't here to play some friendly.'

Hagi was in angry mood but happy with his fitness, having shaken off a groin injury in time for Romania's opening game against Germany on Monday. Veteran German Lothar Matthaus has also been passed fit.

Veteran France defender Laurent Blanc has said he and his team-mates will find it harder to win Euro 2000 than the World Cup. 'I think there will be some surprises,' he said.

'I think we are stronger than in 1998 but any team in our group can still put us in trouble.' France face Denmark, the Czech Republic and Holland.

'We would do better if everyone around us was a bit more positive.' Sound familiar? Well, it's not the familiar plea of another under-fire England player or coach.

Instead it's Italian star Alessandro del Piero asking for some Kevin Keegan-style positive thinking back home. It proves most teams have had their critics ahead of Euro 2000.

Norway striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has been boosted by news that he is the surprise leader in a poll to find Manchester United's player of last season.

The 26-year-old started just 25 of United's 58 games, but is ahead of David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane in the competition run by the club's website.The 'supersub' still recorded 15 goals, although the vote may owe a lot to the strike which won the European Cup.

Sander Westerveld could face a conflict of interests if Holland reach the Euro 2000 final.

The second-choice goalkeeper is best man at his brother Wouter's wedding on June 30 - just two days before the Rotterdam final. He said: 'I don't want to think about a clash of dates yet.'

Euro 2000 referees say they will clamp down on players diving. 'If a referee identifies a simulated foul he must give the player a yellow card,' said Kenneth Ridden, a member of UEFA's refereeing committee.

But Danish ref Kim Milton Nielsen said assessing whether a player had dived was one of the toughest decisions to make.

He added: 'A game can change in a second with a wrong penalty, but if the player knows he will be punished, then maybe he will think twice.'

Swede Anders Frisk will referee England's game against Portugal on Monday.