Womens U-20 World Cup 2010

[Beanie]

Starts tomorrow. If its anywhere near the last couple I think we might actually be successful in killing Mickey off this time.

No 500/1 Nigeria this time - Bwin look pretty solid...Germany(hosts) as 3/1 favs. USA 4/1, Brazil 5/1 and Korea DPR at 7/1. Not had time to look out any other odds, maybe worth watching the first round of matches first.

Germany and USA will have their typically massive side, Brazil the technical ability, and Korea have the team that won the U17s in 2008 coming through, so one to watch.

Winner likely to come from them.

France, Sweden, England and Japan all solid but unlikely to compete against the big sides - Nigeria can but their defence will be far too Keystone Cops to get to the real business end.

Im on hols till thurs so I'll have to sit out the first round of games.

Remember the pills Mick.

[MickeyPaul]

I'd just posted earlier in a World Cup thread that I thought there was one of these cracking tournaments coming up. Super awesome!!

Hopefully it's not being covered in the UK as I like to use those FIFA streams.

[Beanie]

It'll be on Fifa.com and Eurosport(to a lesser extent) I think. In Europe this time too so no 3am matches(although I reckon you liked them...)

Japan dont sound great this year, they've got that little Iwabuchi girl but sounds a bit like a one man team.

Anyway I'll catch up with you, and it, on Thurs.

[Napoleon Solo]

Alright guys, I suppose now is as good a time as any to make my return to the fold.

I've had a solid World Cup getting back into the betting, but this is where my real actions starts!

Germany v Costa Rica
Hosts and one of the favorites, however they were eliminated at the group stages in Belarus 2009 at Under-19 level. Costa Rica in their very first World Cup finals having beaten Guatemala, Cuba and Canada - hardly impressive despite Canada performances in previous World Cups. Nothing to really get excited about in the betting markets.

Brazil v North Korea
Glamor tie of the first round with both team highly fancied for the trophy. Brazil made light work of qualifying, while Korea only finished 3rd, beaten by Japan in the semi-finals. These two teams met in the first game of the last World Cup, Brazil 3-2 winners in an evenly fought contest. This could really go either way but Stan James 2.00 for over 2.5 goals sticks out for me. Both these teams are more than capable of scoring and both should be looking for an opening win with the other group games looking like they could be quite tough.

Colombia v France
Colombia qualified behind Brazil in what is generally a poor South American group of team (Brazil excluded). Just look at the performances of Argentina in previous tournaments. France should have far too much for the Colombians but it may well be closer then the odds suggest.

Back in the morning with the other game.

[Napoleon Solo]

Didn't get up in time this morning to comment on the Sweden v New Zealand game before work.

Todays Results:
Germany 4 - 2 Costa Rica
Colombia 1 - 1 France
Brazil 0 - 1 Korea DPR
Sweden 2 - 1 New Zealand

Tomorrow Games
England 1.90 X 3.25 Nigeria 3.50
Mexico 7.50 X 4.33 Japan 1.33
Switzerland 3.60 X 3.20 Korea Rep 1.90
USA 1.10 X 7.00 Ghana 17.00

I've already got 2 points on Nigeria to beat England.

I'm not entirely sure Mexico should be such big outsiders to beat Japan. Japan are well organised and athletic, but Mexico pushed the USA close in qualifying in both matches they played. I might be tempted with a point on Mexico.

Switzerland could surprise a few teams, especially after their exploits in Belarus in last years under 19s tournament, though Korea Republic are a decent team themselves.

The USA are one of the best teams in this competition, but should Ghana really be a massive 17.00+ to beat them? Probably actually!

[Beanie]

Let's see, time to watch some highlights before the next round of games...

Germany look ok here - playing proper football as usual rather than the scrappy rubbish the other teams do. 4-2 isnt all that great v CR tho.

These Colombians look pretty useful. I'd read they were techincally good pre-tourney and this seems to confirm it. Neither DPR or Brazil look much good - DPR ok but they look slow...the big, strong running sides will probably overrun them. Looking at the stats tho, DPR battered them.

2 jammy Swedish goals, nothing impressive about them.

England v Nigeria a standard womens match. Nigeria batter them but have feet like a 50 pence peice. England lump it high and some defensive behemoth sticks her face on the end of it and squeaks it in. Nigeria much the better team. Thats really unlucky Nap...usual youth football nonsense.

Mexico v Japan - almost got the Mexico win Nap. Japan the better side going by the stats. Lol, they all look so surprised when they score. Mexico look nippy up front, Iwabuchi doing it all for Japan.

USA unlucky not to beat Ghana. I'd forgotten how hilarious this football was. USA look biiiiig.

Korea batter Swiss...last 3 goals were a bit jammy, altho swiss defending is awful. Korea look fairly mobile.

Anyone watch any games so far?

[Beanie]

Bwin odds up...lets have a looky.

Friday games look awful, full of teams who looked very average. Lots of stuffy games.

Saturday much better...

1pts Mexico @ 7.50. England aren't up to much, and the mexicans can cause them plenty of problems.

0.5pts Costa Rica/Mexico/USA @ 58.50. USA wont have any problem v the Swiss, other two have more than a shout against some fairly average looking European opposition.

1pts Over 3.5 Ghana v Korea @ 3.6
1pts Over 3.5 Nigeria v Japan @ 3.6

Similar match ups, and ones where the two styles will do anything but cancel each other out. All should create plenty of chances.

[Beanie]

England 0 - 1 Mexico
Nigeria 2 - 1 Japan
Korea 4 - 2 Ghana

Not bad, although Mexico sound a little fortunate, although the Nigeria came could easily have gone overs. Haven't had time to watch the highlights yet.

[Beanie]

Onto the matches for the next couple of days hoping for more of the same...

Costa Rica v Colombia odds look about right. Colombia should win, but I'm not about to put my faith in them at odds on. Could see goals here, but im not totally sold on that bet yet.

Other games, not really any interest. Again the second set are more tempting.

England aren't great, but they also aren't that bad, whereas the Japanese defence is possibly the worst I've seen in this years tournament. I think the English will win this one.

Nigeria should have a good chance of beating Mexico, but I'm much more interested in the goals bet - 2.40 for over 2.5, yes please.

And finally, USA look good to me and I think they will beat Korea, who have been flattered a little so far imo. Korea also are already qualified.

So some bets...

2pts England v Japan @ 2.2
2pts Nigeria v Mexico Over 2.5 @ 2.40
4pts USA v Korea @ 2.00

1pts England/USA @ 4.40
1pts England/USA/Nigeria @ 12.32

All Bwin, although Betfair now have markets up too. Got one more bet, but its not matched yet, so hopefully will be shortly.

[Napoleon Solo]

Some good picks Beanie! I've missed out due to housework and shopping!

Mexico v Nigeria
I'm staying away from this one. If this were any other group game I'd be lapping up the over 2.5, but both teams know a draw will see them through. I'm not saying they'll play for a draw, but it might not be as open as their previous games.

England v Japan
I'm going against you and actually favouring Japan here. Japan have been poor at the back, but England have hardly been prolific up front, while Japan have shown plenty of attacking prowess. Both teams need to win so I could see a high scoring game. I'm not sure what I'm going to bet on yet.

South Korea v USA
South Korea already qualified against USA that only need a draw. I'm sure the USA will want to top the group and should beat the Koreans, but I'm not betting on it.

Ghana v Switzerland
Ghana have done well in both matches, having plenty of chances to beat the USA in the first game and twice leading to South Korea before succumbing to two late goals. Switzerland have been overrun by both teams so far and I could see Ghana making it a clean sweep.

[Beanie]

Good to see you nap. I take the point about England but they were fairly dominant against Mexico, the main problem being up front as you say. The Japanese problems seem more fundamental - and if they play like they have in the first two games then england might be gifted a goal or two.

Should be fun anyway, I've added another 1pt on England @ 2.45 after I saw the price had risen.

[Beanie]

Well called nap

Down to the USA to avoid the whitewash...

[Beanie]

And they do, puts me at +4.6 so far.

Just going through the last round of matches just now. Germany look ridiculously clinical, especially Popp. Still very impressed with Colombia. And not with Sweden, all of their results have looked pretty fortunate to me so far. True, they topped a group containing Brazil and DPRK, but they were dominated in almost every match, and just managed to scrape their results through a mixture of luck and taking their chances. USA looked ok - the other bet I was looking for was USA outright but didnt get matched. I still give them the slight edge over Germany.

Fuckkkkkk, I dont believe it, just clicked onto the quarter finals to check on the matchups and Sweden - Colombia has already started, and Colombia are already winning(they were 4/1+ on Betfair which was the standout bet of the round Noooooooo!) Why's it starting so early?

Lol ffs, they've just gone 2-0 while I was trying to take the 1.96 on Colombia on Betfair, now I totally don't believe it

Dont want to get involved in Germany DPR today, not sure about tomorrow's two, there's was only one standout bet in this round imo

[Napoleon Solo]

Unlucky Beanie, I fancied Colombia too but didn't get on as I had other duties to attend to!

I could fancy a bet on Korea DPR against Germany. They odds are far too big for a team that's already beaten Brazil and have finished first and second in the last two tournaments. Womens football is huge and highly developed in North Korea and I think the bookies still underestimate them somewhat. They did enough against New Zealand in what was a comfortable win and were already qualified in their final group game against Sweden.

Germany are hosts and are a very good side themselves. They seem very free scoring, though I do think that could be tested against a very able Korean backline.

North Korea @ 8.00 - 1 point

[Beanie]

Yep you are right nap, I'll follow you on that one. Germany have been very good but their group was very kind and it's a different ball game here. Their pace and strong running will be a worry and probably too much but Korea are more than a match technically and that gives them a fair chance.

Well worth a point at that price.