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World Cup Picks Round 2by Ben, last updated 2006-06-14 20:29:03An Aggravated RiberyBy Gerry McDonnellEverything changes. In my youth, I would only consider a good looking female as a potential mate. Nowadays, only the lack of a pulse would rule a ‘lucky' lady out of contention; and in all honesty, that's not a total deal-breaker. Football is also constantly changing. Only a decade ago, a player would never wear gloves because it was a little bit chilly, back then, even a goalkeeper risked ridicule by pulling on a pair.As well as being stronger mentally, ‘old school' footballers were also tougher physically. Bert Trautmann famously played on after breaking his neck; the modern day footballer now rolls around on the grass for 17 minutes if he breaks into a sweat. Paradoxically, international football has hardly changed at all. The big boys were beating up on the little boys 76 years ago; this weekend, more thrashings will be handed out. All the two-bob pundits believe that ‘there are no easy games in international football', but that line can be filed alongside ‘of course i still respect you', and ‘don't worry, it's good for your complexion' in the ‘often used, but not actually true' category. Saturday's action kicks off with Portugal v Iran and a wager on the Portuguese at 2/5 will prove a profitable start to the weekend action. Big Phil's mob did not look overly impressive against Angola, yet won comfortably. The Iranians looked good in patches against Mexico, but giving up smoking just before a World Cup could prove to be a huge mistake. The Czech Republic face Ghana in the following match, and another favourite is set to romp home. The Czechs were arguably the most impressive team of the first week, and in Tomas Rosicky, they have an early candidate for the player of the tournament. The Czechs are bouncing, get on at 4/6. Saturday's action is wrapped up by Italy v the USA. The Italians looked a quality outfit in their opener, while the Americans looked exactly what they are, a mediocre football team. The Italians are standout bets at 8/15 to send the Yanks home to ‘sports' where the score is 74-73 after 45 seconds. Be careful if you intend to play the bookings on the spreads though, the Italians have a tendency for dissent, even the manager's lippy. Sunday's early game will pit Japan against Croatia, and yet again, the favourites are unopposable. The Japanese crumbled like a cheap biscuit against the Aussies, while Croatia can consider themselves unlucky not to take a point off Brazil. Back the Cro's to fly at a pleasant 4/5. All those who snapped up short prices about the Brazilians winning the tournament are probably sweating like an Aussie in a police station about now. The news doesn't get any better i'm afraid, much like their ancestors before them, I can see the Australians nicking a point against the Samba Boys on Sunday afternoon. The draw is available at 9/2. Sunday's action ends with France v South Korea. The French were bitterly disappointing in their opener against the Swiss; Vieira looked spent, Wiltord looked out of his depth and young superstar Ribery failed to make any impact. With French qualification hanging by a thread, Toulouse is not an option. The French have Thierry Henry, they will win. Help yourself to a piece of the 4/9. On the outright front, it's not too late to get on Argentina, Italy or the Czech Republic, but I would still advise against a bet on Germany. Although I have to admit that the Germans do have potential for improvement, Ballack is getting fitter, Klose looks sharp and Frings can only get better. Weekend Betting: Portugal v Iran Saturday 17th June 14.00 Portugal 2/5 Draw 7/2 Iran 9/1 Get on: Portugal Match Special: "Paul a fast one" - Pauleta to score in the first half 7/2 Czech Rep v Ghana Saturday 17th June 17.00 Czech Rep 4/6 Draw 5/2 Ghana 9/2 Get on: Czech Rep Match Special: "Tom cruise" - Rosicky to score from outside the area 7/1 Italy v USA Saturday 17th June 20.00 Italy 8/15 Draw 3/1 USA 13/2 Get on: Italy Match Special: "Heads Tone" - Luca Toni to score with a header 4/1 Japan v Croatia Sunday 18th June 14.00 Japan 5/1 Draw 12/5 Croatia 4/5 Get on: Croatia Match Special: "Hot Stuff" - Srna to score two or more goals 20/1 Brazil v Australia Sunday 18th June 17.00 Brazil 1/4 Draw 9/2 Australia 11/1 Get on: Draw Match Special: "All hands to the plump" - Ronaldo to score the first goal 4/1 France v South Korea Sunday 18th June 20.00 France 4/9 Draw 3/1 South Korea 8/1 Get on: France Match Special: "What an Eiffel" - Henry to score from outside the area 4/1 ← Prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150 151 152 153 154 155 156 157 158 159 160 161 162 163 164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213 214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236 237 238 239 240 241 242 243 244 245 246 247 248 249 250 251 252 253 254 255 256 257 258 259 260 261 262 263 264 265 266 267 268 269 270 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 281 282 283 284 285 286 287 288 289 290 291 292 293 294 295 296 297 298 299 300 301 302 303 304 305 306 307 308 309 310 311 312 313 314 315 316 317 318 319 320 321 322 323 324 325 326 327 328 329 330 331 332 333 334 335 336 337 338 339 340 341 342 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 351 352 353 354 355 356 357 358 359 360 361 362 363 364 365 366 367 368 369 370 371 372 373 374 375 376 377 378 379 380 381 382 383 384 385 386 387 388 389 390 391 392 393 394 395 396 397 398 399 400 401 402 403 404 405 406 407 408 409 410 411 412 413 414 415 416 Next → |
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