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Picking the World Cup winner isn’t just about who you fancy or betting on a rank outsider who have a strong team. A lot of people fancy the Ivory coast to win the Cup for Africa this year, but to be honest being in the group of death is going to make it difficult just getting to the last 16.
A lot of talk has been made about the conditions this year. The climate in the South African winter won’t be hot and it won’t be cold, so the players won’t have a problem with the temperature. On thing to watch out for is the matches being played at high altitude. A lot of the players won’t be used to this and could tire towards the end of games.
Now for the actual choosing of your bets. To start we should rule out England. All the hype has set their odds to low and it’s just not worth backing them at 7 or 8 to 1.
If you have one of the many free bets available and you really want to bet on them then you are not going to be risking anything, but England still don’t have what it takes.
Germany, having won the World Cup 3 times and having been in the final a total of 7 times are always a good team to back. They are a bit unbalanced this year, but they always have a knack of pulling it together when they need to.
Although they won it last time around, Italy have a team of aging players who will struggle this year. If you want to bet on them then put your bet on them going out early.
France are a disjointed team this year. They simply aren’t as good as they used to be. Teams will find it a lot easier to break them down and prevent them from scoring. With Henry only likely to be a sub, France will find it difficult to produce goals.
On their day Portugal are a great team to back. They have the players and skill to beat Spain if they really put their mind to it. They are a good one to back and you will get a good price on them if you do. The only thing is, do they have the playing experience to get through the last stages of the tournament.
Diego Maradona’s Argentina will produce a nice display this year. With the possible best player in the world in Lionel Messi they could produce lots of beautiful football. They probably won’t be able to stand up to some of the stronger teams later on in the competition though. Check out the free bet offers to see if there are any free bets you can get.
The Netherlands are always big underachievers, but Spain’s win in the 2008 Euros has got a lot of people thinking the Netherlands can do it now. They are a team that can win the World Cup, but their team was probably better in 2008 and the 2010 World Cup will probably produce too much of a challenge for them.
Denmark could get to the quarters, but they have no real standout player. Their team is quite solid, but you need an influential player to carry you through sometimes when you are in need.
Although a lot of people would like one of them to win, the African challenge for the World Cup isn’t yet strong enough. Especially with the strongest team, the Ivory Coast in group G “of death”. The hosts South Africa will play with passion, but with France, Uruguay and Mexico in their group, they will have a tough time of it. Although all of those 3 teams are placed too high in FIFA’s rankings for their ability now.
Australia and all the Asian teams just don’t cut it against the big boys in the World Cup so they can be ruled out straight away as potential winners.
Paraguay also just don’t cut it against the bigger teams, so they have to be ruled out.
Calculating through the groups produces two possible semi-finals. Brazil vs Uruguay and Spain vs Serbia.
Brazil are rock solid. One of the best keepers, solid defence, players that can hold, then their ever-great attacking players.
Uruguay have two big-gun strikers in Forlan and Suárez. Suárez scored 35 goals in the 2009-10 season for Ajax which was one more than Messi. Forlan also has a 1 goal in every 1.5 games for Atlético Madrid. If they can translate these goals to the International scene.
Spain have a very strong team and a good manager in Del Bosque, although as favourites they are overrated in the market because of their Euro 2008 win.
If Serbia can get away with their slightly iffy keeper, then the class they have all around the field could send them a long way through this competition. They are very underrated in the market so you will get huge odds on them to win.
Final tips:
Brazil to win the World Cup @ around 5.5
Serbia to win the World Cup or reach the semi-final @ around 61.0 and @ around 6.5
