World Cup Blog & Bets Day Two

Well day one certainly bought about its fair share of controversy and without being pressured by media hype it is getting difficult to trust anything FIFA currently do. I would have thought first game of the showcase tournament a steady trusted referee would have been put in charge, who could speak English as most of the players on the pitch understand that language and been told to avoid wherever possible anything over the top.

That of course was not what we got and I thought the whole thing was a bit of a joke, a non penalty given, a yellow card for what should have been a red in my opinion (and the true letter of the law) and a goal disallowed against the hosts for a reason I still do not know and shall wait until we get details of the official referees report (if it is available in English of course as my Japanese is a bit suspect).

I do bang on about referees as I don’t buy into the “it is a hard job” garbage. They are extremely well paid, we know some referees have succumbed to corruption and we now have 4 pairs of eyes minimum watching the pitch so how they all fail to see so much and come to the decisions they do amazes me. I would love 3 people alongside me checking everything I do so when I key the wrong amount in Betfair one of them can point it out. Tough job my arse!! They are simply incompetent and not trained or managed effectively and have no recourse when they do cock up. Let us just rewind to the Chelsea v Arsenal game, when the wrong player got sent off and the ref just caries on as normal in his 80,000k a year+ job and all the perks.

So the World Cup only succeeded in its first game of giving me the hump. If the tournament is consistent we can expect a penalty or two every game, but of course it won’t be. Look out for Suarez going to ground every chance he gets now having seen that last night. He may well fall down when the ball is in the opposite box and it gets given!!

Nothing to gain from the 2-0 bet. Croatia took the lead courtesy of a calamitous own goal and I thought Brazil looked quite suspect at the back. They will have been happy to win the game and should only improve, but you would fancy teams to score against them. I am also sure they will not run into goalkeepers so generous as Stipe Pletikosa was in the Croatia goal last night, who referee decisions aside had an absolute shocker (must have been that season long loan at Spurs where he learnt a degree of ineptness)

Onto day 2 and 3 games tonight, as we hit the full cycle of group games now that J’Lo’s backside is winging it’s way back to the US with pockets stuffed with dollars – (wasn’t that all a bit bizarre).

First up is Mexico v Cameroon and here once again under 2.5 goals is an overwhelming favourite with 8 of Cameroon’s last 9 tournament games having an unders outcome. This is the second game in group A and both these teams will have to face Brazil (and perhaps the odd referee or two) so will be keen to avoid a defeat. I actually expect it all to be a bit boring this one. I do make Mexico slight favourites and they have not lost their opening game in the last 4 World Cups. I tend to think the market is about right, low scoring, no overwhelming favourite so I will have a small punt on the draw at 3.25.

The second game is the first mouthwatering clash of the tournament as Spain meet Holland. A replay of the last WC Final and I see the matadors outdoing the Dutch once again. I think Spain will have a good tournament and of all the pre tournament odds their price probably surprised me most. It seems a lot is being taken on the Confed Cup defeat to Brazil last summer. Holland have some talented players but in my opinion rely on Robben and Van Persie too much and my view is they are getting past their best. I think Holland will play a stifling game and hope one of their superstars nicks a goal. If they do take the lead they may well hold onto it.

However I think Spain with the front line have too much and people are writing off the likes of Iniesta, Xavi and Alonso too readily, put Costa in the mix and they have an array of talent which is more than capable of infiltrating Hollands defensive line.

No real value in the odds again so a few small fun bets

Spain 1-0 at 6.4

Spain 2-1 at 10

Spain 2-0 at 9

Sending Off Yes – very small interest at 4.7

First goalscorer – Ramos at 28

The final game  of the evening is Chile v Australia and I see no upset juts one way traffic for Chile even without their star man Arturo Vidal. It will be a good game to get a foot up in the table for Chile whilst Vidal recovers from an injury similar to Luis Suarez. Under 2.5 goals is favourite at 1.89 but I fancy this game to have a few goals so will have small dabble at the 2.12 for the Overs.

Not a lot to write about the game I do see it as one way traffic and Chile dominating all over the pitch.

So a dabble on overs at 2.12

Correct Scores

2-0 at 7.6

3-0 at 12

3-1 at 17

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