{"id":490,"date":"2006-06-07T11:07:33","date_gmt":"2006-06-07T16:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2006\/06\/bet-the-world-cup-now\/"},"modified":"2006-06-07T11:07:33","modified_gmt":"2006-06-07T16:07:33","slug":"bet-the-world-cup-now","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/2006\/06\/bet-the-world-cup-now\/","title":{"rendered":"Bet the World Cup NOW"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a><\/p>\n

Friday, June 8, 2006<\/st1:date><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

World Cup Soccer<\/h1>\n

Germany-Costa Rica<\/h1>\n

TVNZ.co.nz<\/o:p><\/h2>\n

Suspended: Germany<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s
\nMike Hanke<\/span> (two games) for being sent off in their
\nfinal match at last year\u2019s Confederations Cup. Injured: There appear to be no
\nserious injuries for either team but Germany<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\ncaptain<\/span> Michael Ballack<\/span> has
\nbeen rested from training and is trying to shake off a calf strain.Doubtful<\/span>:
\nThe only doubt appears to be Ballack<\/span>, although he is
\nexpected to play. Costa Rica<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nare<\/span> at full strength with leading marksman Paulo Wanchope<\/span> and defender Gilberto Martinez<\/st1:place><\/st1:City>
\nshrugging off nagging knee problems. Talented young midfielder Carlos Hernandez
\nhas not impressed in warm-up matches and is set to be sacrificed in favour<\/span> of the more defensive-minded Danny Fonseca. Germany<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nhave<\/span> been world champions three times but are not
\namong the favourites<\/span> here. Coach Klinsmann<\/span>
\nneeds a convincing win over Costa Rica<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nto generate the fervent public backing that helped them finish third at the
\nConfederations Cup. Germany<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nhave<\/span> never lost a competitive match against a team
\nfrom North or Central America<\/st1:place>. Costa
\nRica<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> are<\/span> not
\nexpected to beat Germany<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nbut they have won their opening matches at both their previous World Cups
\nbeating Scotland<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\n1-0 in 1990 and China<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\n2-0 in 2002.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

People\u2019s Daily Online<\/o:p><\/h2>\n

Germany<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> tied <\/span>Japan<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> 2-2 and crushed <\/span>Colombia<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> 3-0 in their pre-World Cup warmups<\/span>
\nin recent two weeks. <\/span>In recent warmups<\/span> against
\nEuropean soccer giants, Costa Rica<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nwere routed by Ukraine<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> 4-0
\nand lost to the Czech<\/st1:PlaceName> Republic<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place>
\n1-0.<\/p>\n

Ecuador-Poland<\/h1>\n

Vital Football<\/h2>\n

Coach Luis Fernando Suarez seems to be bucking the recent
\ntrend, choosing not to announce\/play his starting line-up before the first
\nproper game. Only goalkeeper Cristian<\/span> Mora has been
\nconfirmed as a starter. The main worry on the injury front is striker Agustin
\nDelgado. The former Southampton<\/st1:place> forward is struggling
\nwith a knee injury, though he\u2019s expected to make the appearance as the nation
\nkick off their Group A<\/span> match.
\nThe Poles have no real injury worries and are looking strong after getting back
\non track with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Croatia<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nlast week, having given an off-key performance, losing to minnows Lithuania<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\npreviously. On a side note, the last time these two teams met the match
\nfinished 3-0 to Poland<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nlast November!<\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

SquareFootball.net<\/h2>\n

However Poland<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nlooked sharper when beating fellow finalists Croatia<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nrecently, will be backed by plenty of support in Germany<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nand are a side capable of scoring goals. Ecuador<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nalso did well in qualifying, finishing third in the South American group and
\nbeating Brazil<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nand Argentina<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nalong the way. All of their victories however came at altitude and they have
\nonly played four full internationals in Europe<\/st1:place>. They may
\nstruggle for goals in Germany<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>.<\/p>\n

TVNZ.co.nz<\/h2>\n

Injured: <\/span>Poland<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s
\nJacek<\/span> Bak<\/span> and Jacek<\/span> Krzynowek<\/span> are expected to
\nrecover from minor injury and illness worries in time to start.<\/span> Ecuador<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nhave<\/span> no serious injury concerns.<\/p>\n

Doubtful: Ecuador<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s
\nCarlos Tenorio<\/span> is nursing a calf-muscle injury but is
\nfit enough to be considered for a starting role. Poland<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\ncoach Janas\u2019s<\/span> new defensive formation ground out a
\n1-0 win over Croatia<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\non Saturday, giving the Poles a welcome boost just before a group opener they
\nsee as crucial to their progress. Ecuador need to pick up after losing to
\nNetherlands, Japan and the former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia and drawing
\n1-1 with Colombia in friendlies<\/span> since qualifying.
\nCoach Suarez nevertheless believes they have progressed since their World Cup
\ndebut four years ago when losses to Italy<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nand Mexico<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> saw
\nthem eliminated after their first two matches.<\/p>\n

Saturday, June 9, 2006<\/st1:date><\/p>\n

 <\/o:p><\/p>\n

Paraguay-England<\/h1>\n

Aljazeera.net<\/h2>\n

Paraguay also have injury worries with striker Jose Cardozo<\/span> pulling out of the squad due to a torn thigh muscle.The<\/span> leading goal scorer for his country, Cardozo<\/span> has been replaced by 22 year old Dante Lopez who
\nplays for Genoa in Italy. In better news for Paraguay<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>,
\nCardozo\u2019s<\/span> attacking partner Roque<\/span>
\nSanta Cruz was declared fit to face England<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nin the opening match of Group B on Saturday.<\/p>\n

Reuters.uk<\/o:p><\/h2>\n

Having struggled to beat Argentina<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nand Uruguay<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nsince qualifying, Lampard<\/span> believes England<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nneed to hit Paraguay<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nwith some Premier League pace and pressure.<\/p>\n

Trinidad & Tobago-Sweden<\/h1>\n

Scotsman,com<\/span><\/span><\/h2>\n

Midfielder
\nRussell Latapy<\/span> admits that he has a battle on his
\nhands to make it into the starting XI for <\/span>Trinidad and Tobago<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>\u2019s opening Group B match against <\/span>Sweden<\/span><\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region> on Saturday. The \u201clittle magician\u201d,
\nscorer of 28 goals in 66 international appearances, is not certain to be part
\nof Leo Beenhakker\u2019s<\/span> first-team plans. Latapy<\/span> retired from international football in 2001 before
\nreturning to the fold last September.<\/o:p><\/span><\/p>\n

Readabet.com<\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\n

The Swedes have not tasted a single victory since
\nqualifying for the World Cup last October, drawing against the likes of South
\nKorea, Saudi Arabia and Jordan, as well as losing 3-0 against Steve Staunton\u2019s
\nnew look Ireland back in March.<\/o:p><\/p>\n

Admittedly, they were without a number of their bigger
\nnames for some of those games, but even when the influential trio of Henrik<\/span> Larsson, Freddie Ljungberg<\/span>
\nand Zlatan<\/span> Ibrahimovic<\/span>
\nreturned for Friday\u2019s fixture with Chile<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>,
\nthey could only muster a less than convincing 1-1 draw.<\/p>\n

Associated Press<\/o:p><\/span><\/h2>\n

Leo Beenhakker<\/span> isn\u2019t concerned
\nwith Trinidad and Tobago\u2019s struggles leading up to the World Cup.The<\/span> coach hopes the exhibition losses to a young Wales
\nteam, Slovenia and the Czech Republic will be a teaching tool for his most of
\nplayers who have little experience against some of the top Europeans.<\/p>\n

Argentina-Ivory<\/st1:PlaceName> Coast<\/st1:PlaceType><\/st1:place><\/h1>\n

The Electric New Paper<\/h2>\n

The backline, probably Argentina\u2019s weakest link, seems
\nsure to start with four defenders – Nicolas Burdisso<\/span>,
\nRoberto Ayala, Gabriel Heinze<\/span> and captain Juan Pablo Sorin<\/span>, an attacking defender, whose move forward makes it a
\nbackline of three. Heinze<\/span>, who has not played since
\ndamaging knee ligaments last September in a Champions League game at
\nVillarreal, said: \u2018The team\u2019s in good shape, there\u2019s no problem. The exception
\nis me having just gone through a long period of inactivity. Our desire and our
\nhopes should erase any physical problems we have.\u2019 <\/p>\n

RTE Sport<\/o:p><\/h2>\n

Ivory Coast<\/st1:place><\/st1:country-region>
\nhave<\/span> been tipped to shine at this year\u2019s World Cup by
\nGerman legend Franz Beckenbauer<\/span>. The only man to have
\nwon the World Cup as a player and coach believes that if the Elephants can
\nqualify from their group, they could become the first African nation to make
\nthe final of the summer showpiece.
\n
\n\"CanBet.com<\/a>
\n Bet the World Cup via the Greek Sportsbook <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Friday, June 8, 2006   World Cup Soccer Germany-Costa Rica TVNZ.co.nz Suspended: Germany\u2019s Mike Hanke (two games) for being sent off in their final match at last year\u2019s Confederations Cup. Injured: There appear to be no serious injuries for either team but Germany captain Michael Ballack has been rested from training and is trying to … Continue reading Bet the World Cup NOW<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-490","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.joeduffy.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}