World Cup Day #3

[jaunblaze6]

This certainly hasn't started out as I had hoped, but a late goal by Chile to cover hopefully will get the momentum going as I sit 1-3 heading into today....nough' said, onto the games.

12:00 p.m.
Columbia v. Greece
****Columbia ML (-112)

Sure, Falcao is out and that means Columbia loses some of their attacking prowess, but they still have a boat load of talent and skill. Cuadrado is a special player and James Rodriguez is a young guy to watch on the international stage. Again, you'll have a team in Columbia with a relative home advantage and thus far similar teams (Brazil, Mexico, Chile) have all won their games so this is clearly having an impact. Greece simply isn't very good and while they are big and strong and boast a tough D I just don't think they have enough to clash with a quick, skillful team like Columbia. This is a similar game to last evening's Chile v. Australia matchup and while Greece may snag one on a header or corner kick, Columbia will eventually prevail here and I see them taking this one.

3:00 p.m.
Uruguay v. Costa Rica
***Costa Rica +1 (+110); *Costa Rica ML (+838)

Why? I know this looks crazy, but no Luis Suarez and suddenly the goal scoring responsibility for Uruguay falls to Edison Cavani and to me he has yet to be able to excel when asked to in this role. I know Uruguay is a great side and coming off an impressive semi-final appearance last time around coupled with playing in South America this time they are being looked at as a potential champion. That may still be the case, but most ppl forget that it was Costa Rica that lost out on a World Cup berth after losing to Uruguay in a playoff in 2010 and both of those games were hotly contested. Don't think for a second Costa Rica has forgot about this and after seeing what a little revenge did for Holland over Spain, I'm going to buck what all the stats and signs point to on paper. Further, Costa Rica is not a slouch and I'm excited to see Arsenal striker Joel do his thing....Costa Rica also has a world class goalkeeper and here the climate is a wash. Revenge a dish best served cold....taking a larger play on Costa Rica +1 and a small taste of that plump ML.

[jaunblaze6]

6:00 p.m.
Italy v. England
****Italy PK (+100); **Italy ML (+195)

For me this has been the game that I have looked forward to the most outside of the USA. This is a classic battle of Euro powerhouses. Both of these teams are massively talented and sprinkled with world class players throughout. Opening in the rain forest is going to be the biggest challenge for each of these teams and probably will impact England slightly more. Mario Baloteli is the player to watch in this game as the dominate striker can do what he wants when he is dialed in and chooses to do so....I"m also interested to see if American born Guiseppe Rossi gets the start up front with Balotelli. Additionally, the Italians are going play differently than in previous years and while they do not have their traditional stone wall defense and GK Buffon is nursing a sore ankle, they make up for it with a much more dangerous attacking side than we have ever seen from Italy and this is what makes them intriguing. If Pirlo and Veratti (assuming he gets the call) have time to distribute the ball to Balotelli and whoever else is out there with him, I see goals ands more goals for the Italians. England are more than capable with Wayne Rooney and Daniel Sturidge and no doubt young quick players like Walcot, Lennon and Sterling will be problems for Italy, I just don't think England is going to put it together right out the gate here and the difference maker is Italy is going to be significantly more organized and disciplined defensively. I'm taking the Italians here on the PK as my larger play to cover myself if they draw, which is a strong possibility but I just don't like rooting for a tie, but hey, that's just me.

9:00 p.m.
Ivory Coast v. Japan
***Ivory Coast PK (-125); *Ivory Coast ML (+160); *over 2.25 (-110)

If you like goals and fast paced up and down action, you are going to want to be tuned in tomorrow evening. This is going to be full of action and while that doesn't always mean goals I do this time. Ivory Coast has big, physical players with names that you will recognize like Drogba, Toure, Gervinho and Bony. A lot has been expected of them in the past and they have failed to deliver....this is the last shot for National hero Drogba most likely and with yaya Toure, one of the best Center mids in the world running the show with options around him like Bony and Gervinho not to mention Tiote and the gang I think this is the year that the Ivorians advance and make some noise. This is not an easy task for them out of the gate and Japan have their own international stars in HOnda, Manchester United playmaker Kagawa....Japan is technically sound and will play a direct style that will produce chances against the Ivorians weakest spot, their Defense...but so will IC and Japan's defense is even weaker again being the difference maker here.....Also, African teams are historically a difficult matchup for the Asians due to the major advantage in size and athleticism. Although only a friendly, this was evident days ago as Ghana pounded South Korea 4-0. Ghana on the PK and money line is the play for me here and I do think this will be up and down so I'm also playing the O2.25 total goals.


Good luck gents...I'm hoping to get this back on track today and feel good about these games. The first round of the Cup can be tricky and is very similar to the opening round of the ncaa tournament and there are lessons to be learned sand applied when these teams play group game #2. Be well all.

JBlaze

[LuckyLuch]

WoW nice call bud.

Got my attention now..

Let's do this... Liking the other two as well.

THX

[jaunblaze6]

That is much more like it!! Hope some of you followed today and these helped out .