Mes: enero 2022

Sportsbook odds list Spain and Brazil as most likely to win with England not far behind. Argentina and Italy are also in the mix with single-digit odds. Spain and Brazil are 4-1, England is 5-1, Argentina is 8-1 and Italy is 9-1. Four other teams have odds of less than 20-1. They are Germany at 10-1, the Netherlands at 11-1, France at 12-1 and Ivory Coast at 19-1. The one team from that group getting some action is the Ivory Coast. Their odds have decreased since they opened months ago. Ivory Coast has superstar scorer Didier Drogba and he could be a major factor. Didier lead the Premier League in goals this season for champion Chelsea.

Portugal is listed with odds of 25-1, but they are not really considered a major threat even though they have Cristiano Ronaldo. Portugal has the talent but whether they have enough players who are healthy is the question. No other team on the odds board at the Sportsbook has fewer odds than 45-1 to win the World Cup. Chile is 45-1 while Serbia is 48-1. The United States is listed at 55-1 and they just might have a better chance of advancing than a team like Portugal. The United States team has gained some respect and might be worth a look as a prevailing underdog.

At 60-1 to win the the title is Ghana and Paraguay. Cameroon, Denmark and Mexico are 70-1. The host country South Africa is 90-1 along with Uruguay, Nigeria and Australia. Marked at 110-1 is Greece. Switzerland is 120-1 while Slovenia and Slovakia are 180-1. Algeria is 200-1. Japan and Korea are 250-1. The longest shots on the board are Honduras, Korea DPR and New Zealand at 500-1.

The host country South Africa begins the World Cup as they host Mexico on June 11th. Also on June 11th will be France playing Uruguay. Both of those matches will be broadcast on ESPN. South Africa is an underdog in Sportsbook online odds but they could be worth a look against a Mexico team that is overestimated. France should have a little trouble with Uruguay in the other match.

On the professional level many goals in soccer are scored by heading and headers win many games. Just watch any soccer highlight show that covers professional league games and you will discover that many goals result from heading. The UEFA Euro 2012 was no exception. Headers were a factor in the very first game with the 1-1 draw involving Poland vs. Greece and in the Finals in which Spain defeated Italy 4-0. During the tournament there were 31 games played. 71 goals were scored in all. Out of the 71 goals, 22 of those were headers, which is nearly 31%.

One reason for large number of goals scored on headers is the fact that players who play the wing position are usually instructed to cross the ball into the penalty area when attacking. This happens quite often during a soccer match. Players in the penalty area will get many opportunities to head those high balls that are coming from the wings. The crossing of the ball and heading towards the goal is done very quickly; As a result, the goalkeeper does not have enough time to react to the headers. Players who have the courage and the skills to head the ball will have lots of goal scoring opportunities and if the desire is there, they will score lots of goals and win games for their team. Below is the breakdown of the headers scored during the Euro 2012 tournament which extended from June 8, 2012 through July 1, 2012.

Round Robin Games

• Attacking down the right, a Polish defender’s cross found the head of Robert Lewandowski. His classy header gave no chance to the Greece defenders and keeper and put Poland ahead by a margin of 1-0. Greece would later equalize to make the final score 1-1.
• Germany and Portugal was tied 0-0 until the 74th minute in which a cross from the right side after getting a deflection of a Portugal defender was headed in by Mario Gomez in the far corner. The game ended up in a 1-1 tie.
• In Croatia 3-1 defeat over Ireland, their first and third goals were headers. For the first goal, a loose ball in the penalty area was directed into the bottom corner by Mario Mandzukic from 11 yards out. Ireland equalized as Sean St Ledger drew Ireland level with a cracking downward header from a free kick on the left. The third goal for Croatia came as Mario Mandzukic beat his man and the keeper by heading a cross to the far post.
• England got off to a good start against France as Joleon Lescott gave England the lead by heading a ball from a free kick from the right. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.
• Sweden was ahead 1-0 in the second half, but Andriy Schevchenko scored two headers in the 55th and 61th minute to give them a win over Sweden. The first header was from a cross from the right side of the pitch. The second from a left side corner which was headed near post.
• Russia was first to score in their second game against Poland, when Alan Dzagoev netted in the opener in the 37th minute on a header from a brilliant free kick that was curled inside the box. The game ended in a 1-1 draw.
• Pepe rose to give Portugal a 1-0 lead by heading the ball near post from a swinging corner from the left side of the field. They would later score to make the game 2-0. In the 41st minute, Denmark’s Nicklas Bendtner scored by heading a ball that was directed back in the penalty area. About 35 minutes later, Bendtner would score another header from a right side cross. Portugal scored a late goal and won the game 3-2. Out of total five goals scored, three were headers.
• Andy Carroll got England off to a good start by executing a clinical header from a cross from the right side of the field. As the game progressed to 1-1, Sweden capitalized from a direct kick from the left side of the field. Melberg headed in a cross making it 2-1. England would eventually end up winning the game 3-2.
• Germany scored in the 19th minute against Denmark. Five minutes later Denmark’s Nicklas Bendtner headed a corner in the center of the six which was met by another header by krohn-Dehli that found the back of the net. Germany eventually ended up winning the game 2-1.
• Italy’s Antonio Cassano header in the 35th minute from a corner was too much for Ireland’s Goalkeeper to handle. His goal put Italy ahead by a margin of 1-0. They ended up winning the game 2-0.
• Steven Gerrad beat a defender on right side of the pitch and crossed the ball across the six yards box. The ball went through the Ukraine keeper’s hand, took a bounce and England’s striker Wayne Rooney was there to head the ball in at the back post. This would be the only goal as England would win 1-0 and advance to the Quarter Finals.

Quarter Finals

• After taking several shots on goal, hitting posts, causing all kinds of mayhem for defenders, Cristiano Ronaldo finally found the back of the net by a diving header from a cross from the right putting Portugal in front 1-0 against the Czech. This game winner advanced Portugal to the Semi Finals.
• Germany’s corner from the right side was met by Klose on a header just outside the six yard box. The wonderful striker got high above the central defender to find the back of the net. This was Germany’s third goal in their 4-2 defeat over Greece.
• Xabi Alonso 19th minute goal against France put them ahead 1-0. He scored on a header from a cross from the left while totally free and unmarked far post. He headed the ball in the same direction where it came from. This was the 20th header so far in the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament. Spain went on to beat France 2-0 and advanced to the Semi-Finals.

Semi Finals

• In the Semi Final with Italy and Germany, Antonio Cassano of Italy displayed great skills by taking on defenders on the left and made a beautiful cross in the six. Mario Balotelli received the cross with a breathtaking header which put Italy ahead. Balotelli would prove to be the Hero of the match by scoring another goal 15 minutes later with a powerful right footed shot. Italy would eventually beat Germany 2-1 and advance to the Finals to face Spain.

Finals

• Spain’s Cesc Fabregas received a pass on the run and attacked Italy’s goal line on the right side of the pitch. He made a cross to top of the six which was headed in by David Silva to the far post. This was the first goal of the game and proved to be the game winner as Spain defeated Italy 4-0 to win the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament. Once again header was a key factor.

Spain won the Euro 2012 by displaying great possession and tactics. Now many soccer playing countries will try to imitate and incorporate their style. But it is equally important to take note of how the goals were scored during this tournament. Headers played a significant role in the UEFA Euro 2012 and accounted for 31% of the total goals. Players, coaches and teams need to be aware of this and incorporate heading in their practices. It could determine the outcome of their next match.

Manchester United retakes the precious throne of the Premier League and Arsenal continues charging points to harass the Spurs.

Manchester United finally got the chance to grip the first spot after 5 weeks holding in second place with just two points less than City. The opportunity arrived on Sunday, when the Red Devils hosted West Bromwich Albion at the same time that Manchester City was playing against the Swans at the Liberty Stadium in Wales. With two goals from Wayne Rooney -one on each half of the match- and 0 from the Sky Blues, the Red Devils acquired the leading position, that although they know quite well, they did miss it during most of this season.

So, like in most of the fixtures from this round, the luck was on the hosts’ side in Wales and even though the Sky Blues had several clear chances to score during the second half, it was going to be a triumph for Swansea. The only goal of the meeting was headed at 83′ by the striker Luke Moore, who had entered five minutes before in replacement for Danny Graham. Swansea’s victory could have been worst for the Citizens, for at the very beginning of the match Scott Sinclair missed the opportunity to score a penalty a shot. In the end the inconstancy that the Manchester clubs have shown against some unforeseen rivals at some points of the season leaves us with uncertainty about: for how long can United keep the first position or if City will be able to steal once again and hold on in there until the end.

On the other hand, still in the third position are holding the Spurs, with the same 53 points from a month ago, when they beaten Newcastle; since then Arsenal, Manchester United and now Everton have defeated Tottenham. Those losses are of grave cost for the Spurs that after having an advantage of 10 points between them and the fourth-placed are now just one point away from Arsenal. Anyway at least for David Moyes was a happy day, as he got to celebrated on Saturday his 10-year anniversary as Everton’s boss with the 1-0 victory over the Spurs. The triumph was achieved during the first half by Nikica Jelavic, who was making his debut after moving from QPR to the People’s Club in January.

Arsenal and Chelsea were other two of the victorious host of the 28th round, earning 3 more points that leaves them now with 52 pt and 49 pt respectively. As a matter of fact the Blues had a great week, since they not only beaten Stoke City with a single goal from Drogba’s in their Premier League match, but they were also qualified to the Champions League quarter-finals earlier in the week. Unfortunately for the Gunners, they didn’t have the same luck in the UEFA competition, but in the Premier they won 2-1 against the Toons and thanks to that they are just one point away from stealing the third position.

Liverpool had to play on Saturday at the Stadium of Light with Sunderland and two days later hosted Everton for the match they were missing. On the first game the Black Cats not only left the Reds goalless, but also in second half (56′) the Denmark Nicklas Bendtner put the mark in with a shot at close range to save the day for his team. On Tuesday Liverpool did a lot better against Everton thanks to Steven Gerrard’s performance, which carried with the team and placed 3 goals to save the Reds from the losing streak they were in. The 31-year-old Gerrard is the first player from Liverpool to achieve a treble in almost 30 years and Kenny Dalglish must be quite glad that he pulled off on Saturday.

The other matches from round 28: Bolton 2-1 QPR; Wolves 0-2 Blackburn; Aston Villa 1-0 Fulham; Norwich 1-1 Wigan.

By Camilla Mancini

They didn’t just think, they knew, that they could win a second straight World Cup. Even though their star playmaker Zinedine Zidane who had scored two goals in the World Cup final in 1998 was liable to be out injured for the group stages, so convinced were France that they would glide through these games that they didn’t break sweat about Zidane’s absence, especially for the opening game in Seoul, against lowly Senegal.

After all Senegal were taking part in their first ever World Cup and were supposed to be there just to make up the numbers. So as the game kicked off, France, looking good in their light blue soccer uniforms swarmed all over the Senegalese goal, as the fans sat back expecting a goal feast. So intent were the French players in putting on a show that they seemed to want to walk the ball into the net, and instead fell over themselves as the heat and humidity of a Seoul summer night began to take its toll.

And even more annoying a young and gifted player who was embarking on a successful career in all places but the French League with Lens was creating havoc on both wings, as the Senegalese began to launch some pretty effective counter attacking moves. That young man was El Hadji Diouf and he had the Senegalese supports and most of the neutrals on their feet in the thirtieth minute when yet another telling cross was converted by his Lens teammate Papa Bouba Diop, after a misunderstanding between Emmanuel Petit and the French goalkeeper Fabien Barthez.

The French didn’t seem to be that phased by going a goal down, and they again took up their attacking pose with no real effectiveness. Everything seemed to be on Senegal’s side as they beat of wave or wave of French attacks. Thierry Hendry and Christophe Dugarry both managed to hit the woodwork twice and the Senegal captain Aliou Cisse played the game of his life to keep the French at bay till the referee blew his final whistle to signal a history victory for Senegal. It was obvious that the French had totally underrated the Senegalese team who had finished as runners up in the African championships just a few months before.

Instead of making a dramatic recovery in their remaining games, things went from bad to worse for France in the remaining group stage games. In their second game, France were held to a goalless draw by Uruguay and had their star striker Thierry Henry sent off to make things even more difficult for them in their vital third game against Denmark. On the upside, Zidane was ready to take part in this game, but he made little impact to the disorganized and demoralized «Les Bleus» The 2-0 defeat by Denmark saw France make an embarrassing exit from World Cup 2002, without managing to score a goal and with the only title they won being the worst World Cup performance by a defending champion. And as for «lowly» Senegal they made it to the quarter finals, drawing with both Uruguay and Denmark in the group stages, beating Sweden after extra time, and losing to Turkey by just a single goal, also after extra time. El Hadji Diouf was the outstanding player for Senegal in 2002 and won himself a transfer to Liverpool as a result. And the French learned a valuable lesson – never to take the opposition for granted.