June 28, 2010 (CAP News Wire) – England’s out. Mexico and France are out. Last year’s champs, Italy, are out, and in spectacular fashion. This year’s FIFA World Cup tournament is proving to be filled with surprises, and, as could be guessed, that’s making the related online World Cup betting market very interesting.
Perhaps England’s loss to Germany yesterday wasn’t that big of a shock, but the overall performance of the team was. Italy’s loss to Slovakia defied almost every odds prediction, and France’s quick elimination is being regarded as one of the event’s all-time biggest implosions. All this is creating drama in online betting and oddsmaking circles, but at the same time, it’s also generating new levels of interest that Internet sports betting affiliates should be able to work to their advantage.
Of the French fiasco, MSNCB’s Eve Tahmincioglu writes: “The French team had some of the greatest players in global soccer, was given widespread support by their countrymen and women, and was headed by a competent group of managers. But the organization fell apart in a spectacular fashion, which brought national disgrace to France, even prompting a government inquiry into the loss.”
Of England’s disappointing loss, Carl at bwin’s World Cup blog writes: “I cannot put my finger on what is wrong but I have one very important question to ask … what has happened to the team that we saw in qualifying? The team who beat Croatia 4-1 and then 5-1 and who could then fail to muster a chance against Algeria for 32 minutes! I think personally that morale was at a seriously low ebb in the camp and this is something that will probably reveal itself at some future point in time.”
And so it will continue, until the new champ is crowned on July 11. Is Japan underrated? Is the Dutch team overrated? Will South American teams continue to dominate the games? As with any sport tournament, the biggest fun is predicting the outcome, then being proven right (or wrong). But given the unprecedented international focus on these games, and with such a huge online betting market at stake, this year’s World Cup surprises are offering a lot more than just typical sports thrills.
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