Yearly Archives: 2011
Group A
World Cup Group A betting preview
World Cup Group A odds, tips and free bets
Group A consists of four fairly well-matched teams; France, Uruguay, Mexico and hosts South Africa making it a tough group to call. Saying this, the clear favourites to progress as group leaders are 2006 finalists France at 11/10. In recent times, France have regularly been seen as one of the main contenders for any major international tournament. However, the current French side seem to lack the intimidation factor held by some of their predecessors. They struggled through qualification despite being drawn in, on paper, a fairly mediocre group and only just scraped through in the infamous play-off against Ireland. Odds of 3/1 are available on France not qualifying from the group which may be worth a couple of quid.
Mexico are slight favourites over Uruguay to qualify from group A with odds of 10/11 available, compared to Uruguay’s best price of 11/10. Uruguay, similarly to France, only just scraped through qualification with the help of a play-off match, beating Costa Rica 2-1 on aggregate. Their qualification campaign wasn’t the greatest with only 6 wins out of their 18 group games. The only positive, other than qualifying, they may take out of the campaign could be the fairly impressive 28 goals they scored, only bettered by Brazil and Chile. This is in no small part down to star striker, Diego Forlan, whose goals may well be vital in progressing into the second round.
Mexico finished 2nd in their final group in the North, Central America and Caribbean qualifying section. Again though, they were only 3 points clear of 4th placed Costa Rica who had to play in a play-off. Despite mixed fortunes in the qualification campaign, Mexico are always a dangerous side at the big tournaments. This was again proven in the last world cup where they pushed the favourites at the time, Argentina, all the way to extra-time in the 2nd round. Odds of 4/1 to win Group A may well offer great value given France and Uruguay’s recent problems.
Hosts South Africa complete Group A. At 81st in FIFA’s world rankings, it seems that South Africa have little chance of qualification to the 2nd round. However, they do have one major advantage over the other teams competing, the fact that every game is effectively a home game. Hosts of major international tournaments always seem to over-achieve. A perfect example of this was when football minnows, South Korea, reached the semi-finals in the 2002 world cup (hosted by South Korea and Japan). Given this, South Africa may well be dangerous opponents and could provide some shocks in this group. Odds of 9/4 on South Africa qualifying for the 2nd round can be found.
Tips for Group A
Mexico group winners- 4/1 (Coral)
France not to qualify- 3/1 (888sport)
Top 3 in following order, Mexico/France/Uruguay- 17/2 (SKYBET)
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Germany vs Spain
Germany vs Spain betting preview
World Cup odds – Germany vs Spain
A Fernando Torres strike inside a capacity Ernst Happel Stadion in Austria ended Spain’s 44 year long wait without a major title against the Germans in the final of Euro 2008. Seven hundred and thirty-nine days on and the pair prepare to lock horns in the semi-finals of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. This time, the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban plays host to the all European tie but will Vicente Del Bosque’s side come out on top once more or can Germany continue their impressive march towards the final?
Best odds for Germany vs Spain:
Germany – 9/5 Bet 365
Draw – 11/5 Betfred
Spain – 8/5 Stan James
Outclassed, Outthought and outplayed. These are just some of the words to describe both England and Argentina after Joachim Loew’s Germany kicked them both into touch in the knockout stages. Incredibly, Die Mannschaft hit eight goals in the process and conceded just one, making it the third game in which they have scored four goals in the ninety minutes of play. Quite an achievement considering they were listed as slight underdogs to win both ties, and William Hill’s 19/10 for Germany to conquer favourites Spain will interest several punters who believe they can defy the odds for a third game running.
This young German team have built up a creditable head of steam and confidence in the camp must be soaring. Three of these youngsters in particular; Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira and Thomas Mueller have displayed real quality and guile which has become synonymous with this German side, after making the step up from the ‘Under 21’ fold. However, the latter will miss Wednesday’s semi-final through suspension which comes as huge blow after the
Bayern Munich star has aided his country’s World Cup assault with four goals.
While Germany have blitzed into the last four, the opposite can be said of a rather sluggish Spanish team that have crept into the business end of the tournament. Indeed, the European champions had quite a scare last time out against Paraguay and had it not been for Iker Casillas’ penalty save, Spain looked all set to become the latest big name casualty exiting South Africa. And despite Xabi Alonso’s re-taken spot-kick miss, it was left to
David Villa to grab the winner and break Paraguayan hearts. But this slender victory was not too dissimilar from the last 16 success over neighbours Portugal, both ending in unconvincing one nil score lines. For sure, Del Bosque’s side will have to improve against Germany and 13/8 (Bet365) says they hit top form in Durban. Spain didn’t exactly enjoy their last visit to Durban almost three weeks ago; Switzerland turned them over in a shock
1-0 reverse in their opener.
Germany vs Spain betting tips
If Germany’s flurry of goals in these finals is to continue against Spain, the over 2.5 goals bet with Bet365 is tempting at 6/5 considering Joachim Loew’s side have scored thirteen times in their five matches. Get £200 worh of free bets at Bet 365
The longshot wager could be Germany to win both halves as they did against both England and Maradona’s men, at Paddy Power’s overpriced 10/1. Get a £10 free bet at Paddy Power.
Germany vs Spain free bets
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Betfred
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Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney World Cup Betting odds
Golden boot odds for Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney is certain to be one of the players under the spotlight in South Africa. As a result, there are many betting opportunities available on his individual performance. Perhaps the most popular market with regards to Wayne Rooney will be his chances of bringing home the golden boot as top scorer in the tournament. Boylesports are offering 14/1 on this. Given his recent scintillating form at both international and club level, Rooney is likely to be one of the top strikers in the competition. His 25 goals in 34 games this season for United show that he is capable of hitting the back of the net regularly and he will take great confidence from this. However, winning the golden boot will not be easy. Firstly, there are a number of other top strikers who will be hopeful of claiming the accolade. Spanish duo Fernando Torres and David Villa will provide stiff competition to Rooney, as will Luis Fabiano and Cristiano Ronaldo of Brazil and Portugal respectively. Also, a major influence on the recipient of the golden boot is the performance of the team as a whole and how far they progress. Spain are favourites to go all the way to the final along with Brazil which may give the likes of Torres, Villa and Fabiano an advantage over Rooney. However, saying this, England are also expected to reach the latter stages of the World Cup and with some mediocre sides in England’s group, Rooney may be able to build up a strong tally of goals in the early stages. SKYBET are offering 33/1 on England winning the world cup and Rooney taking home the golden boot which may be worth a punt.
As well as betting on Rooney to win the golden boot, a smart bet might be on him being England’s top goal scorer come the end of the tournament. Boylesports are again offering the best price at 11/4 which seems very good value. Rooney scored 9 goals in qualifying and was England’s top scorer and it looks likely that he will repeat the feat in the finals, should he stay fit. However, Rooney is yet to score in the World Cup finals having failed to score in his only World Cup to date in Germany. Also players like Frank Lampard, Jermaine Defoe and Steven Gerrard are more than capable of scoring regularly at international level as has been shown in the past. Prices on one these three finishing England’s top scorer vary between 6/1 and 8/1..
Reccomended bets: Wayne Rooney to be the World Cup Golden Boot at odds of 12/1 with Sky Bet who offer the best odds on rooney being top goalscorer.
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USA Betting Preview
USA World Cup Betting Preview
USA odds and free bets for 2010 World Cup
U.S.A are the number one ranked team in North America and, surprisingly, the 14th ranked team in the world. The 2010 World Cup will be their 6th consecutive appearance in the tournament and they have made 8 previous World Cup appearances. Their best ever position was third in the inaugural tournament, in Uruguay back in 1930.
In the CONCACAF qualification, the 6 teams in the final group were; U.S.A, Mexico, Honduras, Costa Rica, Trinidad and Tobago and El Salvador. U.S.A were always favourites, along with Mexico, to qualify, and they lived up to these expectations by finishing top of the group. Of the 10 games they played, U.S.A only lost 2; 3-1 to Costa Rica and 2-1 to Mexico. They finished the group on 20 points, one point ahead of rivals Mexico.
U.S.A’s top scorer in the qualification process was on loan Hull striker, Jozy Altidore, who scored 6 goals, just edging Fulham’s Clint Dempsey, who scored 5. Altidore, however, is generally not renowned as a consistent goalscorer and odds of 200/1 on him finishing as the top goal scorer in South Africa reflect this. A more likely goalscorer for U.S.A would be on loan Everton forward and national talisman, Landon Donovan who is available at 180/1. Donovan is the U.S.A’s all time record goalscorer, having scored 42 goals in 120 appearances. A lot of U.S.A’s players will be familiar to fans of English football and one of their stars is Everton goalkeeper, Tim Howard. Howard is just the next in a long line of excellent American keepers, such as Kasey Keller, Brad Friedel and Marcus Hahnemann, and big things will be expected from Howard in South Africa.
The U.S.A will open the tournament with a match against England in Rustenburg on June 12th. The other two teams in group C are Algeria and Slovenia, which makes the U.S.A definite favourites to finish the group in second position behind England. Odds of 23/17 are available for U.S.A to finish as runners up in group B or 7/10 to qualify in either position. The U.S.A are unlikely to struggle too much against Slovenia or Algeria, so long as they play somewhere near their potential. An interesting bet involving the U.S.A is for both Mexico and themselves to qualify from their respective groups. This is available at 21/10 which is reasonable good value, seeing as U.S.A would be expected to qualify and Mexico have a good chance of qualifying from their group as well (France, Uruguay, South Africa). Although it would be considered unlikely for U.S.A to be eliminated at the group stage, it is still a possibility, as Algeria are tough opposition, having just finished 4th in the African Cup of Nations. The best price available on U.S.A to be knocked out at the group stage is 11/8.
Reccomended bets: U.S.A and Mexico to reach last 16 (21/10 with Victor Chandler)
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Uraquay Betting Preview
Uruguay World Cup Betting Preview
Uruguay odds and free bets for 2010 World Cup
Uruguay are a nation steeped in World Cup history. They won the first ever World Cup on home soil back in 1930 and followed that with another win, in Brazil, 20 years later. However, those glory days have long since passed for Uruguay.
The CONMEBOL qualification format differs from the European method in that all the nations are in the same group, with all ten teams playing each other twice. Half of the teams get a shot at the World Cup; the top 4 automatically and the 5th team qualifies for a playoff against a team from North America (CONCACAF). Uruguay finished in that 5th spot (behind Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Argentina) which rewarded them with a playoff opportunity against Costa Rica. Uruguay edged the two-legged tie 2-1 to claim a place in their eleventh World Cup.
Uruguay are slightly underestimated because a lot of their players have had their success outside of the major leagues, whether it be in South America or Eastern Europe. An example of this would be Uruguay’s captain, Diego Lugano, who has had success in Turkey. The undoubted star of the Uruguay team is Diego Forlán who, since a move to Spain, has become recognised as one of the most lethal strikers in Europe, having twice won European Golden Boot. If Uruguay are to be successful in South Africa then Forlán needs to be on top form. He was their leading scorer during qualification, netting 7 goals, but any bet on Forlán to finish as the World Cup’s leading goal scorer is brave. However, if Uruguay were to qualify from their group that would give them at least 4 matches. Considering the top scorer at the 2006 World Cup scored only 5 goals then that makes Forlán just about viable at 80/1.
Group A is one of the most open. Assuming Uruguay will beat hosts South Africa and lose to France, it comes down to a straight fight between Uruguay and Mexico for the 2nd qualification spot. Both of Uruguay’s World Cup triumphs came south of the equator and this is the first time the tournament has been in the southern hemisphere since Argentina in 1978 and for that reason money on Uruguay to qualify could be well placed. Uruguay are available with odds of 11/10 to qualify or 10/11 not to qualify. This thin line shows how unpredictable the group is. The best odds available are if you look at exact final position. Uruguay to finish 2nd in the group is available with odds of 13/5, to finish 3rd at 11/5 or to finish 4th at 28/13. It all comes down to how well you expect South Africa to play and whether Uruguay can defeat Mexico.
Reccomended bets: Uruguay to finish third in Group A (11/5 with expekt.com)
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Top Goalscorer
World Cup Top Goalscorer betting
Top goalscorer odds for 2010 World Cup
The Golden boot is the award given to the top goalscorer at the World Cup, and attracts a lot of betting interest. It’s very hard to predict the winner of the Golden Boot because so many great strikers participate at the World Cup.
For the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the Golden Boot betting is extremely open, with four world class strikers taking centre stage. The odds of Wayne Rooney, David Villa, Fernando Torres and Luis Fabiano are almost exactly the same, with online bookmakers offering odds of between 10/1 and 14/1 on each being the Golden Boot of 2010.
It’s no surprise that these four strikers lead the way in the betting, given that they are all in outstanding form for their clubs, and all play for countries expected to do very well in this year’s World Cup.
Other factors to consider when it comes to Golden Boot betting are whether your chosen player takes penalties. This can be a crucial factor in determining the Golden Boot, like in 2002 when Michael Ballack came close just from taking penalties.
Previous winners of the World Cup Golden Boot award include Miroslav Klose for Germany in 2006 with just 5 goals, Ronaldo in 2002 with 8 goals, and Davor Suker in 1998 with 6 goals.
Given that last year’s Golden Boot winner scored just 5 goals, it may pay to look for a striker who is set to play one of the World Cup minnows such as North Korea or New Zealand. For example, a World class strike like Didier Drogba could easily score a hatrick against North Korea and be well on his way to Golden Boot victory. At odds of 33/1 with William Hill this looks generous.
Golden Boot betting odds
Golden Boot free bets
All major online bookmakers are offering free bets on World Cup Golden Boot betting if you open a new account. Some of the best offers for Golden Boot betting are:
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South Korea Betting Preview
South Korea World Cup Betting Preview
South Korea odds and free bets for 2010 World Cup
South Korea hosted the World Cup back in 2002 and famously did extremely well, knocking out both Italy and Spain on their way to the semi finals, before losing to runners up Germany 1-0. They then faced Turkey in a third place playoff as well, but lost and therefore finished 4th, which was still the best result in the country’s history. In fact, it still remains the only time South Korea have progressed past the group stages of a World Cup.
In the final round of Asian qualifying for the World Cup, South Korea were drawn in a group alongside Korea DPR, Iran, Saudi Arabia and UAE. South Korea ran away with the group, remaining undefeated in a tricky group (won 4, drawn 4) and thus qualified for the 2010 World Cup; their seventh consecutive tournament.
South Korea’s top scorers during the qualification process were Monaco striker Park Chu-Young who scored a total of 4 goals and Man Utd midfielder Park Ji-Sung who scored 5. Park Ji-Sung is the undoubted star man and talisman of the team. He has 84 caps for his country and is also the national team’s captain. Park is the only South Korean player ever to win the Champions League, having won in with Manchester United and was always incredibly influential in PSV Eindhoven’s run the semi finals of the competition in 2005.
South Korea have a difficult group at the 2010 World Cup, with Argentina, Nigeria and Greece forming their competition. Although they will definitely be attempting to finish 2nd in the group, they are certainly not favourites. They have never progressed from a World Cup group outside of their home nation and Nigeria and Greece will create some stiff opposition for the runners up spot this time round. The best available odds on South Korea to not qualify are 2/9, which shows the mountainous task they face in trying to qualify. The odds on them to qualify are 7/2 and to win the group they are priced as outsiders as 12/1. South Korea will probably realistically finish either 3rd or 4th in the group. They are priced at 24/13 to finish 3rd and 6/5 to finish 4th. Judging purely on their record at previous World Cups, South Korea aren’t likely to have much success in South Africa and as such, the safest bet is probably to go for them to finish 4th in the group.
Reccomended bets: South Korea to finish 4th in their group (6/5 with expekt.com)
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South Africa Betting Preview
South Africa World Cup Betting Preview
South Africa odds and free bets for 2010 World Cup
South Africa will be the hosts of the 2010 World Cup and this adds extra pressure to an already fading side. It has only been 18 years since South Africa returned to the international stage, following a 30 year FIFA ban.
South Africa have had very little World Cup success. 1994 was the first year they ever attempted to qualify for a World Cup, but they did not succeed in qualifying. Since then, however, they have missed only one of the last four World Cups (including 2010). Both in France and Korea & Japan, South Africa failed to qualify from the first round group. After missing the 2006 World Cup, South Africa will be looking at attempting to secure their best ever result in 2010, a tournament which they host and thus, automatically qualify for. Due to this, we cannot gauge their current form on their qualifying performance. Instead we can evaluate their recent form in the African Cup of Nations. South Africa have performed poorly in Africa’s premier international tournament in recent years. After being eliminated in the first round the previous 3 tournaments, South Africa failed to qualify completely for the 2010 tournament in Angola. An interesting fact to note, however, is that South Africa’s only success in the tournament came as hosts, back in 1996.
South Africa’ s World Cup squad is likely to feature a few Premier League players. Portsmouth’s captain, Aaron Mokoena is also the national team’s captain and South Africa’s most capped player. Mokoena is one cap away from his 100th for South Africa. South Africa’s record goalscorer, Benni Mccarthy, may also be in the squad. Mccarthy has 35 goals for his country, but has fallen out of favour recently and will be hoping a January move to West Ham will help him gain a place in the squad.
In World Cup history the host nation has won 6 of the 19 World Cup tournaments. Taking a look at the last 3 tournaments shows us the success that home teams have. Germany finished 3rd in 2006, South Korea finished 4th in 2002 and France won in 1998. South Africa, however, may well be the team to break the great run of success that host nations have been having. In none of the nineteen previous World Cup’s has the host nation been eliminated in the first round, but South Africa are odds on to be the first, priced at 4/11 not to qualify. They are available at 8/5 to finish bottom of the group, but it’d be a surprise to see them come away without any results. On the other hand, a tricky group means South Africa could fail to take any points whatsoever, which is available at 21/2. The best bet available would be South Africa to finish with less than 3.5 points, which is available at a price of 18/19. A bet on South Africa to be the top African at 16/1 would be very much an outside bet, with teams like Ivory Coast and Ghana must more favoured.
Reccomended bets: South Africa to score less than 3.5 points (18/19 with expekt.com)
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Slovakia Betting Preview
Slovakia World Cup Betting Preview
Slovakia odds and free bets for 2010 World Cup
This will be Slovakia’s first appearance at a major tournament since they broke away from the successful Czechoslovakian side in 1993. The team are not considered to be a major threat at the World Cup finals in South Africa, however they are a team that demonstrates a willingness to graft in order to gain a result. The shortest odds for a Slovakia triumph are 150/1 which is offered by Ladbrokes; William Hill offers far more attractive odds at 250/1. These odds demonstrate the fact that the Slovaks are not considered to be a serious threat.
Drawn into Group F with holders Italy, Paraguay and New Zealand; Slovakia are not considered favorites to qualify from the group. They are predicted to finish the group third after Italy and Paraguay. If Slovakia graft they have every chance of qualifying from Group F, Victor Chandler offer the best odds at 7/4 for qualification. Coral offer odds of 9/1 for Slovakia to finish the group as winners, this could be a good bet as there is every chance of this happening if Italy fail to perform. It is widely considered that Slovakia could qualify from the group, BetFred offer odds of 15/8 for Slovakia to be eliminated in the Second Round. BetFred also offer odds of 12/1 for Slovakia to be eliminated at the Quarter Final stage (This could be worth a bet; stranger things have happened).
Slovakia topped their qualification group; however it was not a straightforward qualification campaign. The Slovaks had a difficult group to qualify from but on October 14th 2009 they defied all their doubters and qualified for their first World Cup finals as an independent nation. The campaign saw Slovakia lose twice to closest rivals Slovenia, however with seven wins and one draw against teams such as the Czech Republic and Poland saw Slovakia finish the group with twenty two points.
There are several key players in the Slovakian squad who if on form could lead the team to qualify from Group F. Liverpool central defender Martin Skrtel was one of several players who helped the team to qualify for South Africa with his brave and assured defending. Strikers Marek Hamsik and Satnislav Sestak. Both of which have proved to be goal scorers at both club and international level. The latter finished as Slovakia’s top scorer in qualification with six goals, expert.com price him at 300/1 to be the tournament’s top goal scorer.
Reccomended bets: Although unlikely to be a major player at this year’s finals Slovakia have the potential to at least qualify from the group. One bet worth making would be for a Slovakian victory or a draw with group favourites Italy. Sk Bet offer the best odds for both these outcomes, a Slovakia win is priced at 11/2 and a draw at 11/4
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Serbia Betting Preview
Serbia World Cup Betting Preview
Serbia odds and free bets for 2010 World Cup
Serbia have a complicated history as they were formally part of two now disbanded national teams ; Yugoslavia who appeared at nine world cup finals up to 2002 and Serbia Montenegro who appeared at the 2006 World Cup finals in Germany. As an independent nation; Serbia played and won their first match away to the Czech Republic in August, 2006. This will be Serbia’s first world cup finals as an independent nation and most bookmakers including Coral have priced them as 66/1 to win the competition.
Serbia were drawn into Group D, this will be a tough group for the Beli Orlavi (white eagles) as they will face the efficient and tournament specialists Germany, the strong African side Ghana and Australia. Sky Bet prices the Serbs at 10/11 to qualify from the group. Sky Bet also prices them at 4/1 to win the group outright. Totesport offer the best odds for Serbia to qualify at 21/5. If qualification form is anything to go by then the Serbs have every chance of topping Group D at the expense of the fancied Germans.
Serbia were perhaps the surprise nation during the European campaign for World Cup qualification. Serbia topped there group which included group favourites France who had to rely on dubious playoff win at the expense of the Irish to qualify. There was nothing about Serbia’s qualification campaign however; needing a win from the penultimate game against Romania to top the group and guarantee World Cup football Serbia showed their intent with an emphatic 5-0 victory. The Serbs are fancied to reach the Quarter Final stage and Totesport’s odds at 6/1 reflect this.
There are several players in Serbia’s ranks who could lead the team to having a successful World Cup campaign. Firstly at the heart of defence Manchester United’s acclaimed defender Nemanja Vidic will be looking to take his premiership form to the World Cup to aid his nation. The versatile Inter Milan midfielder Dejan Stankovic captains the side and has proved to be a top asset at both club and international football during his illustrious career. Liverpool target Nemanja Jovanovic will lead the line and the striker is priced at 150/1 by William Hill to finish the tournament as top goal scorer. Coach Radomir Antic has managed both Real Madrid and Barcelona; his impressive credentials will be a huge factor in how Serbia perform in South Africa.
Reccomended bets: Pick of the bets for Serbia is offered by Sky Bet at 7/2 for a Serbia victory over Group D favorites Germany.
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