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Kevin11 wrote:lol… Okay shooter, looking forward to your predictions. Should I mortgage the house to bet on your picks? :woo-hoo:
Anyways, thanks for a good World Cup thread…
You got it buddy
There comes a point in a gambler’s life where everything seems familiar…when you reach that point you become immortal and the force is yours forever
But i will give you and everyone else something to dispute
I will take a stand on Ghana and bet them to beat Brazil…i don’t really think they will, but i see a way that they can, and that makes them worth a bet at big odds
Ghana will attack and attack from the left, they will run wave after wave of attackers up the left and cripple Brazil’s defense to the point where they will have to adjust and bring in reinforcements on the right side of their defense
This will create openings for Ghana offensively and take Brazil slightly out of their rythm
Let them know what’s coming, and let them die trying to stop it
Brazil thinks all the other teams came to the World Cup to watch them play…i’m pretty sure Ghana came to kick their ass
Defensively Ghana have to be aggressive and strong on the ball…and not let the refs take them out of that strategy by carding them for breathing on Ronaldinho
That little bitchass primadona Ronaldinho is like an egg out there, you can’t go near him or he’ll run crying to his referee mommy
Essien, who is conveniently suspended for this game is a hard ass tackler, he would’ve put the boots to Ronaldinho big time
Regardless, i will look for Ghana to put up an epic struggle, and hopefully my man Gyan can put a few past Diddla in Brazil’s net and go on to glory
I see a fight developing where Ghana can wear them down and win if they can avoid the big knockout blow that Brazil has
Brazil can get outplayed, hold their opponents to 0 goals, then strike quick from a set play and win…Ghana needs to just go out there relax and forget it’s Brazil they are playing against and they will be fine…Brazil will probably come out fast and try to wow the kids with their clown like juggling early in the game
When i played against teams that would try to intimidate me, i would take the ball and smash it as hard as i could at the other teams players over and over again until everyone was scared to come near me…the referee could not penalize me for it, he just thought i was a retard, that’s not against the rules…that is the attitude i expect to see from Ghana in this game, don’t bend an inch, make them turtle
I’ll look forward to that game, it should be very entertaining
I realize i just put my perfect record in serious jeopardy by picking what would be one of the biggest upsets in World Cup history, but i really want it to happen, for lots of reasons, not just the big bag of loot that i would have coming
Let me do a couple more games
France vs Spain
I’ll take an unimpressive looking France to beat an impressive looking Spain in an upset.
Coach Zaragonas from Spain rested all 11 of his starters against Saudi Arabia…this move is very similar to going all in playing poker…if it is the wrong move you’re out…most coaches will rest only key players, no more than 5 at a time…the reason is, just in case the resting of players proves to be self destructive, you have outs, you only sacrificed 5 and can sub 3 of them and overcome…also…resting some players is not a good idea, by resting them they might lose their sharpness and timing on the field, and that would be a disaster…there is no need to rest young players who are playing well, its an unecessary risk, rest the older guys who benefit from the rest, but don’t rest your whole team…expect Spain to get laid to rest permanently in this game.
France is similar to Italy, they look average in the preliminaries, but once they get out and rolling, watch out, they can take out anyone
In 4 matches between France and Spain in the Euro Cup, France has never lost to Spain, 3 wins and 1 tie…look for that to continue here in a bit of an upset
Italy vs Australia
Italy, i’m getting lazy…Italy to win, no comment
I will add some things about the Italy vs Australia game
Italy plays down to the level of their opponents very often, and this usually means the game will be close, and gives their opponents a chance to spring the upset
The USA game was a perfect example of that, their qualifier vs Belarus was the same, they gave up 3 goals in that one, even the last game they lost was against Slovenia of all teams, ties against teams like Norway and Scotland also all very recently
Strange team, they have the best overall record against the big boys in the soccer world all time, but can really go off against the cheaper teams…they have always been that way, football historians will remember the biggest upset in world cup history was Italy losing to Korea in 1966 in a must win game that eliminated Italy, it was Korea’s first ever win in any world cup match
An upset here is not the most improbable thing…the biggest reason is that they are on the German side of the draw, and the Germans don’t ever want to play Italy(they always lose to Italy)…favouritism towards the host team by referees is no longer a possibility, it is a sure thing, if u watched the game today, a German player reached up, grabbed the ball with his hands right in front of the ref, and the ref did nothing…i thought i was hallucinating, but i wasn’t…then the ref has the nerve to kick Sweden’s most experienced defender out of the game and make them play with one less man for over an hour, on what was hardly a bookable offence.
So after considering all those things, you could make a case for an upset, if you think those factors will come in to play…but i am of the belief that the best team will win, and the best team in here is without doubt Italy
My first thoughts were that Italy would win easy, and i still think that is likely, but after considering the fact that the refs might play apart to help the home team by getting Italy out, and 2 of Italy’s starting 4 defenders are out of this game, and the untimely allegations of Italian players gambling on games…all of these things do not help matters
Interesting day today. England continued to play very subpar game. One striker against a clearly weaker team was an odd choice and for some bizarre reason the off-form looking team didn’t even try to test Ecuador’s weak goalie.
Portugal vs Holland was an entertaining fight. Biggest winner of the match was England – after those red cards they just may have a chance against Portugal.
Quick picks for tomorrow:
Italy wins Australia by either 1-0 or 2-0. Italy always gets more motivated, when the real world cup begins and this time will be no exception. Australia is an ok team, but they would need to pull a -huge- upset here. It doesn’t help that both of their goalies have been quite terrible so far.Swiss beat Ukraine. Swiss team may not have great individuals, but they play well as a team and that is what Ukraine can’t handle, as their one star player can beat weak teams, but beating a good team would require some help and that Shevchenko doesn’t get. Ukraine wouldn’t even be this far, if it hadn’t played in the super weak group H.
Ok, i’m in happyland now after watching Portugal take out the dirty Dutch at nice meaty odds…couldn’t see how you could make Portugal an underdog in here…oh well, i’ll take it
That’s 7 picks, 7 winners so far…oh oh, there’s the jinx
Anyways…
Ghana over USA
Italy over Czech Rep
Switzerland over Korea
Germany over Sweden
Argentina over Mexico
England over Ecuador
Portugal over HollandComing up…
Italy over Australia
Switzerland over Ukraine
France over Spainand the scariest one of all
Ghana over Brazil(gonna have to call in some favours to make this happen)
Somebody offer some input on these games coming up…i got Aussies telling me they will win, Ukrainians telling me they will win, Spaniards looking at me funny, and everyone else laughing at my theory about Ghana knocking out Brazil
Looks like we’re all in agreement for the most part…except for those damn “aussies will win” guys(and gals)
I think we’re all gifted individuals
Those injuries suffered by my teams are a bit worrying
Senderos out for Switzerland and Nesta out for Italy…those are 2 huge rocks on defense, but that’s the game, everybody gets injured
I thought Holland’s display today was the most dispiccable of all time…their strategy was to injure all of Portugal’s key players right at the start of the game…i couldn’t figure out how Portugal went a man down when the Dutch player kicked Ronaldo in the nuts in a blatant attempt to injure him…it was stupid, i thought Holland got favourable treatment being the “Home” team, they had the extra player for a while twice in the game, they got away with offside calls, and still they sucked so bad that they couldn’t score…which was good, justice prevailed
Yeah, England was loving all of that, but they’ll still lose to the Portugal backups…their game is garbage, the famous English “Boot and Chase” is a disaster, makes you wonder how they ever beat anyone…Tough luck for Portugal though, losing some huge players for that game…what are the odds FIFA will do the right thing and overturn those red cards…1 million to 1…they’ll probably make things even harder on Portugal…if they suspend Figo i’m mailing out a letter bomb to FIFA, actually they’ll probably get a few of those anyway
Give the “Unfair Play” and “Sore Loser” award to the Dutch…never have i seen a team more worthy of permanent suspension from football than today’s display by the Dutch…just sickening
Ouch – some strong opinions regarding the games.
Not sure if we were watching the same game between Netherlands & Portugal but I thought the behaviour of both teams was absolutely dispicable with a slight edge of dispicability going to Portugal. I did not have an outcome preference either way so was not seeing this match from a biased view.
England has been given a chance with meeting Portugal down a few key players in the next round, but even then can’t see them making it through without serious luck or a dose of suspect officiating. Hopefully their match with Portugal will be decided by quality of play and not infractions.
I called Germany 2-0 agains Sweden on another forum and Germany 2-1 over Argentina. The latter match being a key tournament match up and tough as hell to really predict. Germany is not playing traditional German style soccer which may cause some problems for any team they meet – if their defence stands up, watch out…
Kevin11 wrote:Ouch – some strong opinions regarding the games.Not sure if we were watching the same game between Netherlands & Portugal but I thought the behaviour of both teams was absolutely dispicable with a slight edge of dispicability going to Portugal. I did not have an outcome preference either way so was not seeing this match from a biased view.
England has been given a chance with meeting Portugal down a few key players in the next round, but even then can’t see them making it through without serious luck or a dose of suspect officiating. Hopefully their match with Portugal will be decided by quality of play and not infractions.
I called Germany 2-0 agains Sweden on another forum and Germany 2-1 over Argentina. The latter match being a key tournament match up and tough as hell to really predict. Germany is not playing traditional German style soccer which may cause some problems for any team they meet – if their defence stands up, watch out…
Now we’re in disagreement
The Dutch instigated that whole mess, Portugal came to play soccer, Dutchy came to hack their key players…what happened during the course of the game doesn’t matter, anybody would retaliate in that situation…it’s who started it that matters in my opinion…and that was when the Dutch went after Ronaldo to try and get him out of the game right at the start, 5 minutes into the game…that was most definitely by design, and it worked, they managed to cripple Portugal’s best player and get him out of the game
That was very cheap, and to be honest, that was the only way they could compete with Portugal, by employing bully tactics
The other move where that little Dutch puke took the ball and tried to score instead of giving the ball back to Portugal, as is customary when one team kicks the ball out of bounds if a player on the field is injured, was just terrible, Deco chased him down and took out his panzy ass, and got kicked out of the game for it.
The Dutch violated the sacred unwritten laws of the game with these moves, and if it wasn’t such an important game, they would’ve got the crap kicked out of them for it, right on the field
The Dutch were clearly to blame for everything…just because Portugal started to fight fire with fire and dished some out doesn’t make them dirty, they are hardly a dirty team…the Dutch on the other hand, are an aggressive hacking team every time out, who just went way too far in this game
I also think in a game like this, suspensions should not carry over to the next game, it’s wrong and stupid…players are getting suspended for actions that never caused injury, or were never even intended to cause injury, not this game in particular, but every game…looking at why some of these players are getting suspended is ridiculous…somebody please tell me what Essien did to get suspended for the game vs Brazil…i mean seriously, let the men play, damn pussy game…FIFA is really abusing the suspension policy in a big way…just when you thought they couldn’t stoop any lower
I remember a time when players never got suspended…nowadays players are getting suspended before the tournament even starts, like Vidic(from Man Utd, and Serbia), suspended for the opening game of this tournament, WTF is that…players getting suspended for scoring goals, are you f#%n kidding me…every team except Brazil and Germany(and the other money makers)is getting their players suspended, what a disgrace
Every day it just keeps getting worse and worse
nick777 wrote:I’m assuming with those comments that you and Betusa will be offering the Italy/Australia game as a pickem right ?oh no
you’re offering australia at 7-1 odds to beat italy
looks like you guys aren’t really believing that will happen either
Hi Nick – just a personal opinion im sorry – the bookmaker and the affiliate manager sadly disagree on all things relating to Australia and football.
Its just good to have the Aussies in there…..
Paul@BetUSA wrote:Hi Nick – just a personal opinion im sorry – the bookmaker and the affiliate manager sadly disagree on all things relating to Australia and football.Its just good to have the Aussies in there…..
I’m just workin on you buddy, don’t worry about it
It’s good for you guys, and you deserve to be where you are, but news that Kewell may be out for this game is bad for your chances
On the other hand
Italy lets teams play against them, that’s probably the biggest reason the lesser teams can spring an upset on them…like Korea in the last World Cup, and like the Americans almost did a few days ago
They don’t care much about hogging possession, but prefer the counter strike…that allows the lesser teams to play with the ball and gain confidence against them…but if Italy score first, watch out, you are in big trouble, and the more you attack them, the deadlier they become on the counter, as the Czechs just found out
The strategy for your team(the Aussies) is to keep the game at 0 into the 2nd half and hope for a lucky break late in the game…i don’t see any other chance for you guys
I think Italy will finally get those forwards going and win, i don’t think the Aussies will score
Well thats the biggest form of daylight robbery i have seen since, well yesterday.
well i guess we have the next 4 years to think about that
…..hey does anyone know if The Italians have won many diving medals in the Olympics???
Paul@BetUSA wrote:Well thats the biggest form of daylight robbery i have seen since, well yesterday.well i guess we have the next 4 years to think about that
…..hey does anyone know if The Italians have won many diving medals in the Olympics???
I think the important thing here is not who won and how they won…but
The important thing is that i was right
And not to toot my own horn any more than necessary, but i was exactly right about how the game would go
And in all honesty, things could not have gone any more perfectly for the Aussies for almost the entire game, and still they could not score, as i said, even with the extra man
No excuses for the Aussies, they just weren’t good enough
What did you want, Italy was playing without 2 of their starting defenders, then the ref kicks out another defender for you and makes them play with one less player for almost an hour
Don’t look to me for pity
Italy deserved to win, they are the better team
The Dutch instigated that whole mess, Portugal came to play soccer, Dutchy came to hack their key players…what happened during the course of the game doesn’t matter, anybody would retaliate in that situation…it’s who started it that matters in my opinion…and that was when the Dutch went after Ronaldo to try and get him out of the game right at the start, 5 minutes into the game
Unfortunately, the only piece of the game I missed was the first 10 minutes so did not see this bit first hand. While I agree to a point about the instigator idea, I still do not condone retaliation that lasts the entire game.
nick777 wrote:The other move where that little Dutch puke took the ball and tried to score instead of giving the ball back to Portugal, as is customary when one team kicks the ball out of bounds if a player on the field is injured, was just terribleThat move has to rank among the top-10 most despicable moments in World Cup history. I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that, and neither could the crowd – the booing sounded defeaning even through the telly, can’t even imagine what it must’ve felt like live.
Today wasn’t much of an improvement from the fairplay point of view though. Italians went through by deploying the infamous “dying swan” move that we see all too often.
I pick Ukraine – Italy as the least anticipated quarter final of all time, that will most likely put scores of people into coma by its sheer boredom. I’m shocked if more than one goal is scored in the match. Actually I’m quite shocked if any goals are scored.
I can’t believe my streak is over…i need a tissue
8 for 8…then the hammer falls on the Swiss pick…i was right about one thing…when i said the Ukrainians couldn’t score on the Swiss
Somebody tell me how a team gets eliminated from the World Cup without giving up a goal, that will be the answer to a trivia question one day
I thought both teams deserved to be eliminated today…at least i was able to enjoy the Portugal/Holland game…but this game…geez what a disaster
I really thought the Swiss would luck their way through in this one…now i don’t know what to believe
I could’ve sold my futures ticket on them when Sevchenko missed the first PK, but decided to eat it instead
One question though…why did the Swiss coach pull Frei with one minute left in extra time and put in Lustranelli…that makes no sense at all…he didn’t even take a penalty kick(the only reason you would do something like that), and besides that, Frei takes PK’s and free kicks…totally had me confused with that move
I thought both teams were just terrible and Italy will eat either one
I expect a different Italy team next time out…Italy is 2 wins away from the finals, no more holding back, it’s gonna be a rout, Italy by 2-3 goals, maybe more…they got their “stupid” game out of the way today
Ukraine has yet to score on a decent team, never mind a team like Italy…unless somebody considers Saudi Arabia and Tunisia decent(then you have serious problems)…they will not score on Italy either
I thought the Ukraine benefited a lot today from playing those 2 crappers i just mentioned, they had more legs today…i thought the game Switzerland played vs Korea took a lot out of them and it showed today, having lost their best player in that one and having to play hard til the end…they looked a bit gassed today
That won’t be the case against Italy…this will be Italy’s easiest game by far in this tournament
They have played twice…Italy won both games, 2-0, 3-1
Italy will come out strong and put this baby to rest early…Italy is the ultimate heartbreaker for these dreamers…because when you play them, they let you play, and you have chances, and the games are usually close…but in the end you lose…and its much more painful than the other top teams who put you out of your misery early
When i say put this baby to rest, that means one goal, and that’s all they’re gonna need…then they’ll let the Ukraines run at them thinking all we need is one goal, and create the illusion that they might get it…but the tank will hit empty for Ukraine, and then Italy will pound them at will near the end.
It’s quite demoralizing actually
I know these guys…believe me, i know when they’ll throw in a stinker, and when they’ll hit the gas…i thinked i’ve called all their games perfectly for over a decade…they come out like a Ferrari against the Ukraine…they know in their heads that they can’t lose to the Ukraine, they know Sevchenko, they know what to expect…and they are coming in on a major high…this game killed the Ukraine, they just went 2 more hours without being able to score, that’s not good for their heads
As for the “dive” by Grosso…i have one word for it, “brilliant”…what a damn genius
Notice how no Aussies were complaining when Materazzi got booted out on a very questionable call(totally undeserving in my opinion)…everything worked out in the end…imagine if it was reversed and Italy had the extra player for an hour…i can assure you Italy would have scored
