World Cup Spread Betting

England’s Players Taken Off Capello Index.

admin — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 15:27:07 +0000

It seems Diego Forlan was totally justified in winning the golden ball at World Cup 2010 in South Africa this summer according to the controversial Capello Index that caused so much trouble for the Italian before the World Cup had even begun. The Capello Index appeared on Saturday and included ratings for the England players during their stint at the World Cup. Capello was outraged and said he had not authorised the publication and was angry it had been published. He immediately demanded that the England players be removed which was done three days later. A disclaimer on the website says that the site which gives players a rating out of 100 is not the personal view of Capello, but rather the work of a group of professors who have devised a system to a lot points to the players on the basis of their performance.
The England players who where removed, needless to say performed extremely badly in the index just as they did in South Africa with no English player appearing in the top 45. Steven Gerrard was the only player to appear in the top 100 for the group stages coming in at 65. Jermaine Defoe had the highest average score of the England players at 62.47 while Robert Green had the lowest at 51.67.
Diego Forlan topped the ratings with Miroslav Klose and Thomas Mueller finishing 2nd and 3rd for Germany. Champions, Spain take the next three spots with Iniesta 4th, Xavi 5th and David Villa 6th. The top ten is completed by Uruguay’s Luis Suarez, Dutchman Arjen Robben, Schweinsteiger of Germany and Manuel Neuer also of Germany.
England’s players didn’t rate much better up to the end of the last 16 with only three making the top 100. Gerrard made it in at 71st, John Terry made 87th and Mathew Upson just scraped in at 100th. Interestingly the index had rated Ledley King, Michael Dawson and Sol Campbell as England’s best defenders ahead of John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. Fabio might be taking a sneaky look at the index the next time he’s heading off to a major championships.
The site now says it will be applying the same principles to all Premier League, La Liga, Serie A and Champions League matches for the coming season and will publish results within two hours of the end of matches. The best rating for a player in the world cup final was 75.17 and that one went to Spain’s Iniesta who as you remember happened to score the winning goal. There might just be something in that old science business after all.

Iniesta Starts Fiesta For Spain.

admin — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 14:37:24 +0000

Spain are the football world champions for the first time in their history and one would have to say it is totally deserved and long overdue. They overcame Netherlands in the 116th minute with a goal from Andres Iniesta. The game will not go down as a classic final and that was mostly due to the tactics of the Dutch which at times descended into downright thuggery. How they managed to keep 11 players on the park for as long as they did defies belief. Howard Webb may not have got all his decisions right, but to see the Dutch surrounding him at the end of the game was laughable they should have been saying thanks considering they didn’t end the game with only 8 players on the pitch.
Despite the most yellow cards ever dished out in a world cup final, 14 in total, all of them justified with Heitinga seeing red for a second yellow. How Nigel De Jong wasn’t sent off for planting his studs into the chest of Xavi Alonso I will never know. Mark Van Bommel was cautioned for mowing down Iniesta and if he has any complaints he needs to look back at some of his tackles in previous matches where he didn’t even see yellow. It could be argued that he should have been serving a suspension if he had been treated as he should have been. The Dutch displayed everything that is bad in football last night and it would have been a travesty if it had gone to penalties and they won. Thanks to Iniesta’s goal we were saved the indignity of that.
Both teams had their chances during the game with Robben put clean through twice but Casillas was up to the task on both occasions. The second time Carles Puyol tried to hold him back and the only thing that kept him on his feet was that he was about a yard outside the penalty area. If he had been anywhere near the area he would have gone down like a sack of potatoes as he is prone to do. Sergio Ramos had a free header on the edge of the 6 yard box which he failed to get on target when it seemed easier to score and then with less than 5 minutes of extra time remaining and penalties looming, up popped many peoples man of the tournament Iniesta, to supply the finish to another of Spain’s flowing moves that sent all of Spain into football heaven. Casillas was in tears as the ball hit the net and Iniesta ripped off his shirt to reveal a message to his friend Dani Jarque who tragically died from a heart attack during pre season training last year, before he was mobbed by his squad mates at the corner flag.
The Dutch were raging, feeling that they should have had a corner when a free kick deflected off a Spanish player and went behind. Howard Webb gave a goal kick instead and the rest as they say is history. If the Dutch had approached the game in any other manner than that which they did there might have been some sympathy for them but every neutral fan in the world will feel that justice, for once was served and the best team for once did actually win. The rest of the world’s football powers will have a job on their hands trying to surpass this Spanish team and now they know how to win they will be hard stopped. Whoever does manage to stop them lets hope they take a more footballing method than the Dutch.
So the end of another world cup finals and it won’t go down as a classic but I’m sure it will be remembered for the colour, the noise and the welcome of the South African people. Hopefully they will get the legacy they deserve after decades of turmoil.

Uruguay And Germany Fight For Bronze.

admin — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 10:46:46 +0000

There are only two matches left at World Cup 2010 in South Africa and one of those just happens to be the biggest game on the planet, the world cup final between Netherlands and Spain. That takes place on Sunday evening in Soccer City, Johannesburg. But before we get to that we have the 3rd and 4th place play off between Uruguay and Germany which takes place in Port Elizabeth. The play off match is often seen as a bit of an anti climax for the teams involved after the heartbreak of missing out on the chance to make a little bit of history by appearing in a world cup final.
For these two teams though there are a few incentives to make it a competitive game rather than just a glorified friendly match. Uruguay coach, Oscar Taberez has said there will be no such sentiments from his team and they are preparing to fight to the death. They will prepare with the same commitment as they did against the Netherlands and although third place is not the same as the final they will give it their all.
Germany on the other hand has one Miroslav Klose who is still in with a chance of winning the Golden Boot award, which if he manages to do would put him in the history books as the first player to win it twice.. He may also be playing in his last world cup match and has the chance to by pass Gerd Muller as Germany’s all time goal scorer at world cup finals and also Brazilian legend Ronaldo as all time record goal scorer at world cup finals. He needs one goal to pass Muller and two goals to pass Ronaldo, so he has plenty to play for. Klose also feels that he may never win the world cup after losing the final to Brazil in 2002 and losing at the semi final stage to Italy in 2006. He may feel that his race has been run when it comes to the finals in Brazil in 2014, seeing as he will then be 36 years of age.
I’m sure this young German team will also want to go out on a high after not been expected to do this well in the tournament. The same could also be said of Uruguay who probably wouldn’t have been in a lot of peoples picks for a place in the semi finals. There are also many of the bigger teams who would give there right arm to be playing in this match. Brazil, Argentina, France, Italy and England are a few teams that spring to mind.
When these two teams return to their homelands I’m sure they will be mobbed by their fans after putting up some fighting performances and it has to be said especially in the case of Germany playing some damn nice football on the way as well. There will be quite a few offers coming in from the big clubs looking to secure the services of some of the top players in their teams. All the German squad were playing in the Bundesliga before the finals, that will certainly change now when some of the big boys come knocking. All England’s squad played in the Premier League before the finals and probably still will be after, which is a shame because it would improve some of them to play in the more technical leagues in Europe. For a nation that was once so keen to travel to distant lands, there footballers now seem to have gone to the other extreme, unable to leave the comfort zone of the Premier League. They should take the chance while they can.

We Have The Final Two.

admin — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 10:37:43 +0000

Its Netherlands v Spain at World Cup Spread Betting after Spain beat Germany 1-0 in the semi final in Durban last night. It is now definite that we will have a new name on the trophy come Sunday evening. Spain have reached their first world cup final and Netherlands are in their third having failed to win in their previous two encounters. They will now go head to head at Soccer City, Johannesburg for the title of world football champions, the trophy and the right to wear the world cup star on their shirts for all time.
It wasn’t the most exciting of matches but as a tactical battle it was quite interesting with the Spanish playing their neat possession football and the Germans defending well and trying to hit them with their high speed counter attacking game which has served them so well during this world cup. Chances were few and far between for both sides and it took 73 minutes for the first and deciding goal to arrive via the head of Carles Puyol. Puyol should have given Spain the lead in the first half from a similar situation but sent his header wildly over the bar. From Xavi’s corner, Puyol arrived unmarked and sent a powerful header past Neuer in the German goal. In fact Puyol biggest threat was his fellow defender Pique who he outjumped to get the ball and that’s saying something when you see the height difference between them. The Germans had time to reply but were unable to find the goal needed to send the tie into extra time. Indeed they were almost caught out at their own counter attacking game by the Spanish on a few occasions but the Spanish didn’t have the same quick decisive ball that the Germans had used against both England and Argentina. If there is one fault with the Spanish it is that they seem to be intent on walking the ball into the net.
The Germans have to be commended for the football they have played during the last four weeks and being such a young team we haven’t seen the last of them. They will surely be contenders for the European Championships in 2012 and Brazil 2014 for the next world cup. For now they will have to be content with a place in the play off for third place against Uruguay but one thing for sure, when both these teams return to their home soil they will be greeted ecstatically by their fans and so they should, they have done themselves proud. Such a difference from the English and French who made no impact at all and left something of a bitter taste in the mouth.
So it’s onward and upward for Netherlands and Spain and the chance of football immortality for whoever can lift the trophy on Saturday night. Here’s hoping it’s a good game to round off the first World Cup on African soil.

First Finalist Books Place At Soccer City.

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 10:09:31 +0000

We have our first finalist at World Cup Spread Betting as Netherlands overcame a dogged Uruguay on a 3-2 score line in Cape Town last night. It won’t go down as a classic but will be remembered for a wonder strike from Giovanni Van Bronckhorst in the 18th minute. There didn’t seem to be much danger when he received the ball wide on the left but after controlling the ball he unleashed a thunderbolt that evaded the keeper and arrowed its way into the top corner of the net. The straight line distance from where he was standing to the goal was measured at about 41 yards and when it comes to deciding goal of the tournament this is more than likely it barring someone doing something more spectacular in the remaining three matches.
The Dutch weren’t having any great luck in breaking down the Uruguay defence up until that and didn’t improve much after and just before half time Diego Forlan let fly with a curling shot that should have been kept out by the keeper but despite getting his hand to the ball couldn’t keep it out. The second half mirrored the first with no great cutting edge from either team. The Dutch then finished off the game as they thought with two goals in three minutes from Sneijder and Robben only for Uruguay to pull one back two minutes into injury time. They had a chance to lob a few balls into the Dutch penalty area but where unable to find the equaliser. So the Dutch are into there first final since 1978 and will be hoping it will be third time lucky when they take on Spain or Germany on Sunday.
Tonight’s match will be huge for both teams with a young German team who were not supposed to get this far against a Spanish team who have under achieved at major tournaments up until their win in the European Championships two years ago. I feel their will be more weight of expectation on Spain to get through but they also might have the psychological edge after beating Germany in that final. That said the Spanish have not beaten Germany in the three matches they have played in world cup finals, losing two and drawing one. Then there is the golden boot competition with Villa just ahead of Klose by one goal at the moment. Villa is one goal away from joining Raul as Spain’s all time leading scorer, and Klose needs one goal to equal Ronaldo’s fifteen goal haul at world cup finals so there are incentives for both attacks to make history. One thing for sure, I can’t see the Germans sitting back and defending deep as most of Spain’s opponents have done so far and with the counter attacking threat posed by the Germans the Spanish will also be wary. This could be a cracking match and a date with destiny awaits the winners at Soccer city on Sunday. If Spain makes it through we will be guaranteed a new name on the trophy and immortal status for the victors
One word of caution for all you spread betters out there; Paul the octopus has picked Spain over his home country Germany to win the semi final. He is been credited with predicting correctly all the games in which Germany have played so far. They put two boxes of food in his tank each with the flag of the two countries playing and which ever box he takes the food from is his prediction as the winner. And who said you had to spend hours analysing stats and form to make a few quid.

Semi Final Showdown In Cape Town.

admin — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 10:19:16 +0000

It’s back to business at World Cup Spread Betting and South Africa 2010 today for the first of the semi finals when Uruguay takes on Netherlands in Cape Town. Uruguay will be complete outsiders for this match but this is a country who knows what it takes to actually win the trophy. Granted their last victory was back in 1970 but on that day no one gave them a chance when they came up against the mighty Brazilian’s in Rio. When you also consider that this is a country with a population of only 3.5 million people then their achievement is all the greater.
Uruguay coach, Oscar Tabarez is said to come up with a cunning plan to stop Arjen Robben inflicting damage on the Uruguay defence, this according to Sebastian Abreu, who scored the winning penalty in the shoot out victory over Ghana in the Quarter final when he cheekily chipped the ball straight down the middle as Kingston dived to his right. It was also his goal that sealed their qualification for the finals. The loss of Suarez for the game could have a huge bearing on the outcome as both he and Forlan have been in great form when paired together up front.
A lot of people are saying that Suarez should have got a longer ban than one match for the deliberate handball that stopped Ghana scoring in the final minutes of extra time, but lets face it any player would have probably done the same thing under the circumstances and if Ghana had scored the penalty we wouldn’t be having this conversation right now. Suarez will be a big loss to Uruguay I feel that coach Tabarez will have to do more than stop Robben if they are to progress to the final as the Dutch have several players who can inflict damage such as Wesley Sneijder and Robin Van Persie any of which may be worth a punt for first Dutch goal of the match. On the Uruguay side, Diego Forlan would have to be first choice for that accolade who despite his spell with Man Utd has proven himself to be a top class finisher. It may be a bit of a long shot but Uruguay could actually do this.
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has warned his players against complacency saying Uruguay are not there for no reason and that any slip in concentration will end their dreams of becoming world champions for the first time in their history. The Dutch have appeared in two finals before in 1974 and 1978 and lost both. This was during the time when they played what was called total football and many would say that they were the best team never to win the world cup. They will be hoping that come the end of the match this evening they have the chance to put that right.

Semi Finals Complete After 2 Days Of Drama.

admin — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 10:15:55 +0000

The semi final line up has been completed after two days of drama in the quarter finals. Uruguay v Netherlands will take place Tuesday with Germany v Spain taking place on Wednesday. In some regards it is a fairly unlikely semi final line up with the Spanish been the only pre tournament favourites to have made it this far. The Germans were looking towards the next world cup with this team which has no great experience of major tournaments and having a lot of untried players at this level. Their players with experience such as Klose, Podolski and Schweinsteiger have stepped up to the mark and have been aided by the likes of Mueller and Ozil in ripping teams apart up to now. They were ruthless against England and kept that going against the much fancied Argentines scoring 4 goals for the third time in the tournament. Klose is now only 1 goal behind all time goal scorer Ronaldo of Brazil who scored 15 goals at world cup finals. They will meet Spain for a place in the final and as I said in my posts before the tournament began you can not rule out the Germans.
The Spanish had a more laboured passage, having to wait until the 82nd minute for David Villa’s goal which put Paraguay out after a heroic display and much drama. Paraguay missed a penalty, and then Spain missed a penalty about two minutes later. Alonso scored with his first effort only to be made take it again and the keeper saved and then blatantly brought down Fabergas which should have been another penalty but the referee missed that one. The Spanish are now appearing in their first ever world cup semi final and it could be a great match when they face the Germans in Durban on Wednesday.
Great drama between Uruguay and Ghana with Uruguay winning 4-2 on penalties after the Ghanaians had missed a penalty when Suarez had seen red for a deliberate hand ball on the goal line. Uruguay held their nerve and will meet Netherlands who had to come from a goal down against the much fancied Brazil. Coach Dunga has been sacked this morning after failing to bring the trophy home. Wesley Sneijder has been credited with both goals by FIFA which is a total joke as the first one he didn’t even get remotely near touching the ball as it skimmed off Melo’s head and into the net. Melo later received a red card for stamping. This was the proverbial game of two halves with the Brazilians very much on top in the first half and would have been out of sight only for Dutch keeper Stekelenberg. Once Brazil conceded the equaliser the game seemed to turn and it was the Dutch who came out on top.
So down to the last 4 and you can’t rule anyone in or out. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Uruguay v Germany in the final on Sunday in Soccer City and I’m sure you would have got very long odds on that one before the tournament started.

Quarter Finals Underway Today.

admin — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 12:06:56 +0000

The world cup springs back into life here at World Cup Spread Betting after a 2 day break. The quarter finals start today with Netherlands taking on Brazil at 3.00pm and Uruguay and Ghana underway at 7.30pm. Spread free betting for 1 hour before kick off returns at Sportsspread.com after proving very popular during the group stages. It is so popular that it has been extended to all remaining matches in the world cup. Also they have tightened their spreads on their main markets like total goals and shirts by up to 50% which makes them best in the business. Sign up now for a €/£100 bonus.
Netherlands V Brazil could be a cracker with 2 teams who like to attack and go for the win, although their current coaches are more defensive minded. I don’t think it will be samba football v total football like in the days of Pele and Cruyff back in the 70’s and 80’s. Brazil coach Dunga is getting poor reviews in the media back home because of his more defensive style of play. He is unrepentant however and says the team lives on results not talent. He thinks it will be a good game because of the way the Dutch play. It is very hard to play good football if all 20 out field players are stuck in one half of the pitch.
Netherlands coach, Bert Van Marwijk also makes no apologies for his team’s style of play saying total football was a long time ago and you can’t win the cup playing like that now. The game has changed too much; people are fitter and more organised these days. Even when the Dutch were playing their total football they still didn’t win the world cup, their best achievement being the European Championships in 1988. Everyone will be hoping for a good match, lets hope it is.
Meanwhile over at soccer city, Ghana will be looking to become the first African team to make it to the semi final in a world cup tournament. Their coach says they are under no obligation to make history but that doesn’t mean they don’t want to. He won’t change their style or worry about the so called pressure. I’m sure the whole continent of Africa will be roaring the Black Stars on hoping to see that little bit of history. Uruguay Have been here before although it was a long time ago, 1950 to be exact when they won their second world cup by beating Brazil 2-1 on their own soil. They were the underdog in that match and Brazil had 200,000 fans roaring them on in Rio but that made no difference to Uruguay who came from a goal down to beat their fellow South Americans. Brazil then adopted their famous yellow and blue strip which they wear today branding their all white strip which they wore at the time unlucky. They never wore it again. If the Uruguayans get past Ghana and Brazil beat Netherlands then they will play each other in the semi finals. That’s your history lesson over for today, happy spread betting.

Down To The Final Eight At World Cup Spread Betting.

admin — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:11:12 +0000

At World Cup Spread Betting it is time to relax, recuperate and steel your selves for the final run in to the conclusion of World Cup 2010 in South Africa. We have had 19 days of football, 56 matches, 123 goals and the odd shock here and there. 32 teams have been reduced to 8 and some of the cream has risen to the top, although some of the cream that expected to be there has turned a little sour.
France and Italy were the major fallers at the group stage and everyone would have expected these two heavyweights to go through. Slips ups by England then saw them pitted against Germany in the next round which they wouldn’t have been expecting and Portugal came up against Spain which wasn’t totally their fault as they had to contend with the group of death as it was called. No shame in finishing runners up to the mighty Brazilians.
You now have a 2 day break before the quarter finals start on Friday so it’s time to regroup and sort out your spread betting options. With Netherlands v Brazil and Argentina v Germany, two more top teams are going out and with the other 2 matches, Uruguay v Ghana and Paraguay v Spain anything could happen. Ghana will be looking to make it to the semi final as the only African representative and Paraguay will be looking for a major shock against the Spanish. There is also the possibility of an all South American semi final line up.
There will be twists and turns to come in this tournament yet and that’s your opportunity to make a few quid. Remember the best team doesn’t always win. Imagine Paraguay and Spain ending level at the end of extra time and going to penalties. I’m sure Paraguay would feel they had a great chance to dump out one of the pre tournament favourites. As Greavsie says “It’s a funny old game” so thinking hats on and get down to sportsspread.com to check out some of their special offers and try and relieve them of a few quid while your there. Happy spread betting.

Sepp Blatter: Time To Go If He Can’t Embrace Technology.

admin — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 11:33:44 +0000

It is now time for Sepp Blatter to step aside and let somebody with a bit of common sense and a more youthful outlook to take over the reins at world football headquarters. After refusing to bring in any sort of technology to help his beleaguered match officials a short while back, he has come out this morning saying that goal line technology is back on the agenda. This as a result of the incidents in Saturdays matches involving England and Argentina.
In England’s match, Frank Lampard scored a perfectly legitimate goal which the referee and his assistants failed to see despite almost everyone else in the stadium knowing the ball had crossed the line. It wasn’t just barely over the line it was two feet over the line. In the Argentina match, Carlos Tevez scored Argentina’s first goal having been two yards offside. The goal was allowed to stand and then some nice fellow who was operating the screens in the stadium showed a replay by mistake, and that caused chaos on the pitch with the Mexican players surrounding the referee and his assistant who I’m assuming also seen the replay which means they knew they’re mistake, but did they do anything about it, did they heckers like as they would say on coronation street. They had a chat about it and then decided it was a good goal.
Now I’m not saying it would have made a difference to the outcome of either match, but we’ll never know now will we. If you take away Argentina’s first goal which was offside and there second one which was gifted to them by a defensive error of huge proportions then we’d have been back at 1-1 and the Mexican’s certainly weren’t lying down and letting Argentina walk over them. The England game was a bit more clear cut but again if they had come out for the second half at 2-2 then chances are nine of England’s outfield players wouldn’t have been in the oppositions penalty area for a free kick which went array and saw the German’s break from one end of the field to the other at break neck speed slamming the ball into the English net with most of England’s players still at the half way line. If Lampard’s goal had stood then it would have been 3-2 to Germany and the English would still have had a fighting chance having come back from 2-0 down already. Now I know this is all hypothetical but the dynamics of both games could have been changed.
England were not good enough on the day or in the tournament as a whole and Germany deserved their win, likewise Argentina but the best football teams don’t always end up being the winners as we have often seen in the Champions League for instance. If I may go back to the man who showed the replay of Argentina’s first goal on the screens in the stadium, what would the problem be if there was a referee in the stands much like they have in rugby union who could have looked at that replay on his own and communicated his decision to the match referee over his headset and it would all have been done while the Mexican’s were having there little head to head with the officials.
Similarly with the England goal it would have all been sorted out before the English had finished celebrating their goal. Now in all honesty how is that going to slow down or interrupt the flow of the beautiful game? The only concrete changes that would have been made were that the Mexican’s would have been happy instead of the Argentineans and England would have been happy instead of the German’s at that particular point in both games but at least we would be looking at the correct decisions having been made and Argentina and Germany could have absolutely no complaints about those decisions.
I know it is not feasible to have this system at every match played through out the football world, but in major domestic leagues and major international tournaments something has to done to change the prehistoric way that Sepp Blatter and FIFA are going about doing the job and if Mr Blatter and his co-horts can’t embrace the technology then they should be disembraced out the door from FIFA and football as a whole. They wouldn’t even need technology if they went with the referee in the stand, and what exactly is the fourth official doing at the moment only tapping numbers into a board and taking pieces of paper from team coaches so they can make substitutions, hardly a job that takes up 90 minutes of their time while the match is in progress.
For Blatter to come out and say it would cost too much money to implement is sheer hypocrisy seeing the amount of money the world cup brings in and considering twenty Dutch girls in sexy dresses were able to be put out of a match because said sexy dresses didn’t have the name of the official world cup brew on them and instead carried the name of a rival beer. Two of them were even arrested for god’s sake, how sad is that? It seems Sepp can protect what he wants to protect but can’t protect the integrity of the game that put it all there in the first place. Time for pastures new Mr Blatter.