Betting Picks

Summer is upon us, and sports betting is full of baseball, golf, and tennis for the moment, with many exciting events on the horizon. The sports world is only a month of away from football, and both NFL betting and NCAA football betting are available for avid fans.  However, there is still one week left in the most popular sporting competition on the globe, as the World Cup nears an end in South Africa.  The semi-finals are this week, with four teams competing to play in the finals on Sunday from Johannesburg.  There is still time to get in on World Cup betting before the tournament is all over, and the four year wait begins again.

The second of the two semi-finals matches—the first between Netherlands and underdogs Uruguay- features two teams expected by many to make it to the finals.  Spain and Germany face off in the most anticipated match of the tournament yet.

While Spain were picked by many to win the competition outright, it is the Germans who come in looking like world champions. For the third time in the tournament, they scored four goals in a match, beating Diego Maradona and Argentina 4-0 in the quarterfinals.  Like they did against England in the round of 16, a 4-1 victory, Germany scored early and forced their opponents to press in the second half, resulting in more scoring opportunities.  One of the youngest teams in the competition, Germany is quick on the counterattack and have shown how lethal they can be, seemingly scoring at will.

Spain meanwhile, struggled to get to the semis, after an intense 1-0 victory over underdogs Paraguay.  The game hardly went as planned for Spain, with star Francisco Torres underperforming and not being able to shake off a nagging injury.  Spain was fortunate after committing a foul and awarding Paraguay a penalty in the second half they could not convert. Still, Spain has made it to the final four, where they planned to be all along.

David Villa has nearly carried his team single-handedly, scoring five of Spain’s six goals, including the only one against Paraguay.  His adversary will be German forward Miroslav Klose, who’s four goals have been among the many Germany has scored, as he looks to overtake Villa for the Golden Boot in the tournament.  Both players will be key to their team’s success, however more pressure is on Villa who doesn’t appear to have the same supporting cast as Klose.

Betting lines:  Spain are the very slight favourites in many parts, but it seems more based on pre-tournament predictions than judging the teams by their latest performance.  Germany has looked far superior and is playing more as a team, with each player performing their role in lieu of going after individual glory.  Germany are more opportunistic, and despite all the stars on Spain, they will not be able to overcome the impressive team effort put forth by the Germans.  Look for the match to be one of the more exciting and technically sound games in tournament, with Germany scoring early, and taking advantage of Spain’s press, winning 2-0.