World Cup Quarter Finals 2-3rd July

[slick]

World Cup Quarter Finals 2-3rd July

[deeloughran]

Have backed the overs in the Brazil game, think 11/10 looked pretty big.

Brazil as have all seen have Robinho, Kaka and Fabiano all allowed to do as they pleased as Gilberto and Ramires/Melo provide the protection for the defence and that means goals.
Holland have Robben back and looked a lot better going forward with alot more width (something the Brazilians won't like with them being quite narrow once you go past the front three with the two DM central) - Chile failed to provide width against them as they play quite centrally so i feel that this will give the Brazilian defence their first real test and i'd expect Brazil to score, hopefully early, making Holland having to throw it all at Brazil who have more than enough to break their stubborn defence.

Nothing else really sticks out to me here

[slick]

Two cracking matches coming up , Holland v Brazil and Argentina v Germany, just so happens I fancy both outsiders which is sweet odds wise.
here's where my climate factor comes into play now as since even before this world cup started I've thought the weather in SA is more European than South American , allthough to be fair to them they have got 4 teams into the semis so they aren't doing that badly but i do think the cooler weather may be a major factor now were getting to the nitty gritty, especially for the likes of Germany and Holland who need to maintain thier workrate to compensate for lack of skill , whereas the South Americans let the ball do the talking the Europeans not taking into account Spain let their legs do the talking, it could be a load of bollox but i'm still going with it as The south Americans have never won the WC in europe, I know its Africa but thats why i mentioned the weather factor.

Again like Japan today that price for Holland is to big imo, rather than being greedy though like i was with the Japs I'll probably go with Holland +1 on the AH or DNB at odds that should be just over evens i imagine.

Same with Germany too, slightly lower odds but they won't be scared of Argentina, If i can get +1 for them @ around evens I'll be having some as I'll be suprised if theres more than one goal in this game.

I Can't see Spain having much trouble against Paraguay, their still my favourites for the Cup and I just cannot see anyway Paraguay will trouble them on this afternoons performance, my main fear with them is they will get every man and his dog behind the ball and hope to grind out another drab 0-0 then take a chance on penalties, hopefully Spain will be to good no matter what they do and just give them a good thumping.
Spain win

I wasn't going to bother with the Uraguay v Ghana game but once again thats a tidy price for Ghana as I don't see more than a goal bewteen these either, anybody esle think Ghana +1 on the AH is a good bet?

[Gavster]

I'm not sure that I agree with your weather hunch Slick, but I'm with you on the AH for Holland and Germany. Being brutally honest though, I fancy Germany on the AH more than Holland. I'm already on Germany to to win e/w so not sure it's worth a punt on the result.

In my opinion, the Germans have just as much creativity and organisation as the Argies do. Plus, if Germany score first, it'll test Maradona's patients and ultimately show that he's a total nut-job.

Germany +1 but only @ 1.57 right now (stan james)

And Ghana +1 is marvellous Stan James are offering 1.8, which is the highest I've seen.

[Suir Thing]

Slick, the weather will have absolutely nothing to do with it, contary to popular belief the winter in South Africa is not a winter as we know it, their winter is much better than say an Irish summer, I know that, I have been in South Africa twice. The winter is mainly warm and sunny, but now and again a front passes over and you get a few days of cold and rain. Its been mostly warm and sunny for the games, yes I know there has been nights for example when the Danes played the Japs they were wrapped up on the bench as if it was a WC qualifier on a winters night in Copenhagen, just to explain my point the forecast for the weekend in SA is good, not scorching hot but not exactly cold either.

HOLLAND v BRAZIL, Port Elizabeth - Friday, Sunny 28C
URUGUAY v GHANA, Johannesburg - Friday, Sunny 15C
ARGENTINA v GERMANY, Cape Town - Saturday, Sunny 19C
PARAGUAY v SPAIN, Elis Park - Saturday, Sunny 15C

Brazil will piss all over the Dutch, come wind, hail or snow.....and the Spanish will piss all over Paraguay.
For me Brazil to qualify 4/9 + Spain win 1/2 double, paddypower.....all in

[HastGill1]

Cant believe people fancy Germany over Argentina, I havent actually been that impressed by Germany think Gillingham could have given England a fair run the other day, and I would be staggered if Germany could have scored any of their four goals against Argentina..they were all down to the total incompetance of the England side and considering how dodgy they looked at the back against a v.mediocre attack, I certainly fancy Argentina to win with the best strike force in the whole tournament..Argentina have only let in two goals so far, one was the individual error against Korea and the other a consolation for a good Mexico attack, I would certinly class them as able to deal with what I consider to be a fairly limited Germany attack..

Germany will be playing on the counter attack I expect, and will be dangerous with that tactic but I certainly dont see them being able to keep out Argentina at the other end..might have a look at the overs which did me well in the last round, but I will prob be quite happy to take Argentina straight..Argentina win and over 2.5 goals is 3.75 on bet365 and I like the look of that also for a relatively small stake..

[Suir Thing]

Originally Posted by HastGill1

Cant believe people fancy Germany over Argentina, I havent actually been that impressed by Germany think Gillingham could have given England a fair run the other day, and I would be staggered if Germany could have scored any of their four goals against Argentina..they were all down to the total incompetance of the England side and considering how dodgy they looked at the back against a v.mediocre attack, I certainly fancy Argentina to win with the best strike force in the whole tournament..Argentina have only let in two goals so far, one was the individual error against Korea and the other a consolation for a good Mexico attack, I would certinly class them as able to deal with what I consider to be a fairly limited Germany attack..

Germany will be playing on the counter attack I expect, and will be dangerous with that tactic but I certainly dont see them being able to keep out Argentina at the other end..might have a look at the overs which did me well in the last round, but I will prob be quite happy to take Argentina straight..Argentina win and over 2.5 goals is 3.75 on bet365 and I like the look of that also for a relatively small stake..

Good article, and its amazing how people sometimes see two different things, however I do not agree with you about Germany having a limited attack, when the midfielders Podolski, Lahm and Schweinsteiger, have the ball they seem to up it a gear and get forward fast to Klose and Muller who know where the goal is.
Both Argentina and Germany have something in common, great going forward, both defences no matter how good their record is, look anything but confident and have not been properly tested yet. Messi also if you did not know who he was, would describe him just as an average fat boy, I have not seen anything special from him yet. I'm with the Germans, sorry to tell you this HastGill but I suspect you may be following your heart a little due to the hurt of last Saturday and would like to see the Germans get dumped.
My Bet, Both Teams to Score 5/6 StanJames

[MickeyPaul]

I took the same bet myself earlier, Suir Thing. Both teams to score as... well I'll just echo what you've said.

[Colbro]

I don't understand the weather argument at all.

Motevideo and Buenos Aires are approx on the same latitude as Port Elizabeth and Durban
Rio de Janeiro and Asuncion are approx on the same latitude as Pretoria and Jo'burg.

The South American leagues play in winter and most South American players play in Europe.

They have bad weather in South America too - remember Diego Maradona's dive along the touchline in pouring rain when they won against Peru.

[slick]

Well I'm sticking with Slicks theory of climativity as i think the cooler weather will suit the European sides, i know the south Americans play in all weathers but in the main they are used to it when its roasting whereas the western Europeans are not, any sort of cooler weather has to be an advantage to them, I don't think its any coincidence no South American side in the last 50 years has won it in Europe and vice versa, even when the WC in Seoul and the USA , Brazil won it in the Warmer weather.
I think the weather has a bigger say in things than we think.

I don't like the look of Suir Things weather prediction mind for Friday afternoon @ 28C, that could certainly throw a spanner in my works. Lets hope we get a nice cool breeze coming in from the south with a bit of cloud cover to boot.

[Colbro]

Originally Posted by slick

Well I'm sticking with Slicks theory of climativity as i think the cooler weather will suit the European sides, i know the south Americans play in all weathers but in the main they are used to it when its roasting whereas the western Europeans are not, any sort of cooler weather has to be an advantage to them, I don't think its any coincidence no South American side in the last 50 years has won it in Europe and vice versa, even when the WC in Seoul and the USA , Brazil won it in the Warmer weather.
I think the weather has a bigger say in things than we think.

I don't like the look of Suir Things weather prediction mind for Friday afternoon @ 28C, that could certainly throw a spanner in my works. Lets hope we get a nice cool breeze coming in from the south with a bit of cloud cover to boot.

European world cups are held in the summer though - when it is hot so this should help S.American teams according to your theory. Europe teams still win though.
Vice versa when it is in South America it is winter - South America teams win.
Every southern hemisphere world cup so far has had a south American winner.
1930 Uruguay
1950 Brasil
1962 Brasil
1978 Argentina.

[Colbro]

My read of the games for what its worth.

Brasil to beat Holland - Holland had large gaps in their defence v Slovakia and only scored due to defensive errors. Brasil will be tighter and exploit the dutch errors at the back. I also expect them to man mark Robben

Argentina to beat Germany - Freidrich and Mertesecker looked vulnerable on (rare) occasions against England and I think Argentinas forwards will attack this. Argentina just have too much talent overall.

Uruguay to beat Ghana. Just

Which leaves Spain who I worry about and fear could lose to Paraguay to provide the shock of this round. There is something not right about this Spain team with Alonso not fitting in to the usual pattern of Spain play. The TV said it was probably because the coach was worried about the fitness of other players and he wanted the insurance of the extra defensive midfielder but it leaves Spain short of attacking options. A repeat of the Swiss game is my fear here and the odds on Spain are far too short for me to back them.

[Suir Thing]

Slick, I didn't make it up , you can check it out on the link below

BBC Weather | Port Elizabeth

[slick]

i know you didn't m8 , I was making the post Interactive for feedback

Weather apart I still fancy the European teams to do well, I've seen some good stuff from the South American teams , Chile Included but the big two Argentina and Brazil have still to meet a decent team imo that is well organised , Germany and Holland are just that.
I wouldn't be suprised to see both games end in a draw and the reason I fancied both Germany and Holland on the AH as both look too bigger price as outsiders and both have the ability to win these games.

If Germany can put Argentina under Pressure then I can see cracks starting to appear like what happened in Qualifying, everything has been rosey so far but if Schweinsteiger can get a grip in midfield then the Argie forwards won't get half the possession they have been getting to date, even Messi by his standards has been pretty low key without Xavi and Iniesta behind him, he's shown some brilliance but not on the same scale or amount he does for Barcelona.
Schweinsteiger v Mascherano should be one of the best match ups of these Championships.

Holland have a far tougher task but you can't dismiss their 100% record both in Qualifying and in this World Cup, thats 12 WC games on the bounce they have won yet there odds are 4.6's which is amazing.
When i see an old fella like Gilberto looking top notch in matches it tells me the opposition ain't all its cracked upto be, the Dutch have far more about them, If the Brazillian backs start bombing forward like they have been doing against the Dutch then there's every likelihood they are going to get caught out.
Same with Lucio who's a great player and had a blinding world cup, but at times he's been like another centre forward in games he's pushing up that much, thats not going to happen against the Dutch.
De Jong knows all about Robinho too and won't be phased by him, if anything I can see him getting a hard dig in early doors to get him out of the game as thats all it takes.

Maybe I'm going barking mad but I think the Dutch and Germans stand a very good chance of progressing unlike those odds suggest, which make the AH odds very attractive to me.

[7HEGR1MR3AP3R]

Everyones saying goals goals goals and this looks plain wrong to me !

Were talking world cup qtf finals here, not coca cola cup 1st round !!

Holland have been very solid at the back for many years now, and they know theyre playing Brazil here ! They`ll surely concentrate on the back and keep it scorless for as long as possible, maybe trying to nick one. Then havent been prolific either, getting an onw goal in a 2-0 win over Denmark, a scrappy goal in a 1-0 win over Japan, and a Robben strike wrong footing the keeper in another dour 2-1 win over Slovakia, Slovaks got a pen that wasnt a pen ,in stoppage time. Wheras Brazil have conceded just 2 goals, both when they switched off mentally, against Korea and Ivories. They scored 3 against a clumsly ivories backline, 1 was handballed twice before finding the net, 2 against Korea (whom Portugal got 7 against,and ivories 3,could have been 10). They got 3 against Chile, but that was a Chile team who always concede 3 or 4 against Brazil , for the simple reason they attack them from the start and dont let up, meaning huge gaps at the back for Brazil to go into. The only team who theyve played who have lined up like Holland will was Portugal - result 0-0. I expect plenty Brazil possession without scoring, then they might break through late on and nick it 1-0 , also whenever they manage to get ahead they wont be going gung ho for a 2nd , not under dunga they wont ! Brazil 1-0, and under 1.5 are both sound bets imvho