The European Zone begins it’s qualifiers beginning in August of 2008, and just what, you can bet on the World Cup First Stage Qualifiers.
For these purposes, Europe is divided into 9 groups (8 groups of 6 teams and 1 group of 5). The 9 group winners will qualify for the 2010 World Cup. The best 8 teams that don't win a group will have a playoff against each other for 4 additional World Cup spots awarded to the zone.
The first group consists of Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Albania, and Malta. Portugal has to be the odds on favorite to win this group, but I don’t think that Sweden and Denmark are such pushovers. This would be a fun group to bet on and watch, but I do expect Portugal to win it.
The second group (Group 2) is made up of Greece, Israel, Switzerland, Moldova, Latvia and Luxembourg. No one in this group really jumps out a team that will dominate, but I like either Greece or Switzerland to go the World Cup.
Group 3 has the Czech Republic, Poland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia, Slovenia, and San Marino. I would expect to see Poland or maybe the Czech Republic come out of here. I would like to see Ireland, but I doubt that would happen.
Betting on Group 4, I would have to put my money on Germany. They match up against Russia, Finland, Wales, Azerbaijan, and Liechtenstein. Russia or Finland might give Germany some problems, but even so, they should be able to win this group easily.
Group 5 has a very good Spanish team going against Turkey, Belgium, Bonsia-Herzegovina, Armenia, and Estonia. I would bet on Spain to dominate this group.
The British are coming to group 6, and they should no problem conquering this one. England goes up against Croatia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Andorra. I feel bad for all the other teams in this group, because they really have not shot.
Group 7 has France, Romania, Serbia, Lithuania, Austria, and the Faroe Islands. If I got any kind on odds on France to make it to the World Cup, I would take them.
Italy will be the team to come out of Group 8. They are matched up against Bulgaria, Republic of Ireland, Cyprus, Georgia, and Montenegro. Ireland should really stop playing as North and South and create just 1 team. They might be a lot better then.
The last group is 9. The five (only five) teams that make up this group are Netherlands (who I would bet on), Scotland, Norway, FYR Macedonia, and Iceland. I can’t see anyone but the Netherlands coming out of this group.
Well that’s the list for teams that are trying to get to the World Cup out of the European Zone. We’ll have to wait a bit to see who makes it, but it should be fun!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
South Africa is in the World Cup
I didn't realize this until now, but appartently the World Cup host country gets an automatic bid into the tournament. I guess that makes sense, and you really can't say that it fair. The locals want to watch, root for and bet on a local team. And the local team should be damn competative. In 2006, Germnay go a lot farther than any odds makers where saying they could. Yes, I'm proud to have bet on them in the 2006 World Cup to win their group. They were favored, but I bet big and cleaned up. Unfortunately, I stopped betting on them after that.
In 2010, I'll probably place a bet on the South African team to come out of their group, if not win it. It always seems like the home teams do better than people would expect them to. Honestly, I'm not sure how home teams don't get more respect. They don't have to travel or deal with jet lag. They don't have to sleep in hotels for weeks on end. They should be familiar with even field that they play on. And they should be surrounded by family and friends.
Anyway, the good news for South Africa is that they are in the World Cup. I think more than a few people will bet on them to come out of the group too. This guy probably will. After all, I'm sure to bet on the World Cup. Might as well bet a home team.
In 2010, I'll probably place a bet on the South African team to come out of their group, if not win it. It always seems like the home teams do better than people would expect them to. Honestly, I'm not sure how home teams don't get more respect. They don't have to travel or deal with jet lag. They don't have to sleep in hotels for weeks on end. They should be familiar with even field that they play on. And they should be surrounded by family and friends.
Anyway, the good news for South Africa is that they are in the World Cup. I think more than a few people will bet on them to come out of the group too. This guy probably will. After all, I'm sure to bet on the World Cup. Might as well bet a home team.
Monday, April 07, 2008
Early World Cup Groups
World Cup 2010 will be held in South Africa, and the people of Africa are thrilled. This should be a big boost to the local economy of the continent and a great way to help spread the customs of the local people to the world. New stadiums are under construction adding a boost to the construction industry. Tourism is going to go through the roof during the games. And sponsorships will be at an all time high for the country.
Teams most now get ready to compete for the qualifying rounds of the tournament. The bracket draw for the preliminary matches happened in November of 2007 in Durban. Here all 170 teams participating found out who they would be up against to qualify of the 2010 tournament.
For this drawing, all teams were grouped into one for 4 zones as follows:
European Zone – Made up of the heavy hitters like Italy, England, France, Spain and others.
African Zone – Made up of African teams from South Africa to Ghana.
Asian Zone – Made up of teams from the Middle East (Iran) to Japan and Australia.
North, Central American and Caribbean Zone – Consisting of teams from the USA to Jamaica.
South American Zone – Strong teams like Brazil and Argentina
Oceanian Zone – From New Zealand to Fiji
Each zone has different brackets with a different number of seeds advancing to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. As time goes by, we will take a look at each zone and see how many teams will advance and how the different groupings will play out.
Teams most now get ready to compete for the qualifying rounds of the tournament. The bracket draw for the preliminary matches happened in November of 2007 in Durban. Here all 170 teams participating found out who they would be up against to qualify of the 2010 tournament.
For this drawing, all teams were grouped into one for 4 zones as follows:
European Zone – Made up of the heavy hitters like Italy, England, France, Spain and others.
African Zone – Made up of African teams from South Africa to Ghana.
Asian Zone – Made up of teams from the Middle East (Iran) to Japan and Australia.
North, Central American and Caribbean Zone – Consisting of teams from the USA to Jamaica.
South American Zone – Strong teams like Brazil and Argentina
Oceanian Zone – From New Zealand to Fiji
Each zone has different brackets with a different number of seeds advancing to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. As time goes by, we will take a look at each zone and see how many teams will advance and how the different groupings will play out.
Saturday, April 05, 2008
World Cup - Soccer is the biggest game in the World
Soccer aka Football to the rest of the world, is the most watched and the most bet game across the planet. It is sick the amounts of money wager on this sport. More money is bet on the World Cup than any other event in the world. Sure worldwide, people watch the Olympics, they watch the Super Bowl, they might even watch the World Series (Hello Japan). But people don;t watch any single event more than they watch the Football World Cup.
Of course there are a few other World Cup's as well. There is the World Cup of Cricket, the World Cup of Rugby, the World Cup of Beer Pong, etc.
The next World Cup is in 2010 in South Africa. South Africa is at the bottom of Africa and produces a lot of Diamonds. They also have some great casinos there. I even think that online gambling is legal there, and they have a few online sportsbooks and casinos based in South Africa.
The 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil. Land of the carnival, the real Madri Gras. Countries are currently submitting bids to try to host the 2018 World Cup.
Of course there are a few other World Cup's as well. There is the World Cup of Cricket, the World Cup of Rugby, the World Cup of Beer Pong, etc.
The next World Cup is in 2010 in South Africa. South Africa is at the bottom of Africa and produces a lot of Diamonds. They also have some great casinos there. I even think that online gambling is legal there, and they have a few online sportsbooks and casinos based in South Africa.
The 2014 World Cup will be held in Brazil. Land of the carnival, the real Madri Gras. Countries are currently submitting bids to try to host the 2018 World Cup.
Monday, January 22, 2007
Adu leads U.S. into Under-20 World Cup
Phenom scores two of team's five goals in qualifying win vs. Panama
Freddy Adu scored twice as the United States beat Panama 5-0 Sunday night to win its qualifying group for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
Robbie Rogers, Johann Smith and Jonathan Villanueva also scored for the United States, which qualified for this year’s tournament in Canada when Haiti upset Guatemala 2-0 in the first match of the doubleheader. The Americans will be making their sixth straight appearance in the tournament, formerly known as the FIFA World Youth Championship.
“Our team was highly motivated this morning, wanted to finish the job on a high note and we did,” U.S. coach Thomas Rongen said. “We showed in this game what we’re capable of. We are a good team that came into a very tough surrounding against a very good opponent.”
Panama earned the other berth in the tournament from the four-nation group. Mexico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and St. Kitts and Nevis will play from Feb. 21-25 for the other two sports from the North and Central American and Caribbean region.
The Under-20 World Cup begins June 30. The draw is March 3.
Freddy Adu scored twice as the United States beat Panama 5-0 Sunday night to win its qualifying group for the FIFA Under-20 World Cup.
Robbie Rogers, Johann Smith and Jonathan Villanueva also scored for the United States, which qualified for this year’s tournament in Canada when Haiti upset Guatemala 2-0 in the first match of the doubleheader. The Americans will be making their sixth straight appearance in the tournament, formerly known as the FIFA World Youth Championship.
“Our team was highly motivated this morning, wanted to finish the job on a high note and we did,” U.S. coach Thomas Rongen said. “We showed in this game what we’re capable of. We are a good team that came into a very tough surrounding against a very good opponent.”
Panama earned the other berth in the tournament from the four-nation group. Mexico, Jamaica, Costa Rica, and St. Kitts and Nevis will play from Feb. 21-25 for the other two sports from the North and Central American and Caribbean region.
The Under-20 World Cup begins June 30. The draw is March 3.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
FIFA Chief Regrets Not Handing World Cup Trophy To Italy In Person
FIFA president Sepp Blatter wishes he could do the World Cup trophy presentation over again. He missed the ceremony after Italy won the World Cup in the summer of 2006, and has now expressed his regret that he did not make certain that he was there to make the handoff. He met with members of the Italian team on Monday and apologized. His apology may also put to rest the claim that FIFA has "anti-Italian" tendencies.
Blatter told AFP, "History will say it was a mistake for the FIFA president not to award the Italians the World Cup, and it was indeed an error on my part."
The FIFA president reportedly did not want to be in the center of attention after being booed and hissed by fans, which led some to conclude that Blatter was disaffected by the Italian victory. In fact, in trying to avoid causing a stir, his absence did just that.
Blatter told AP he decided to skip the ceremony before the game began.
"I wanted to avoid creating an ugly scene because the Germans had shown they would whistle at the word FIFA.
"Yes, Italy deserved to win the World Cup," Blatter added. "The Italians found themselves in a difficult situation at the World Cup and they showed a great capacity to play soccer, producing a great effort."
Blatter told AFP, "History will say it was a mistake for the FIFA president not to award the Italians the World Cup, and it was indeed an error on my part."
The FIFA president reportedly did not want to be in the center of attention after being booed and hissed by fans, which led some to conclude that Blatter was disaffected by the Italian victory. In fact, in trying to avoid causing a stir, his absence did just that.
Blatter told AP he decided to skip the ceremony before the game began.
"I wanted to avoid creating an ugly scene because the Germans had shown they would whistle at the word FIFA.
"Yes, Italy deserved to win the World Cup," Blatter added. "The Italians found themselves in a difficult situation at the World Cup and they showed a great capacity to play soccer, producing a great effort."
Friday, January 05, 2007
Hayden in preliminary World Cup squad
SYDNEY: Matthew Hayden’s World Cup hopes received a big boost Friday when he was included in Australia’s preliminary 30-man squad for the Caribbean tournament.
Test opener Hayden, 35, who was not part of Australia’s successful Champions Trophy campaign in India in October-November, was also named in the 13-man squad for the triangular one-day series against New Zealand and England, starting in Melbourne on January 12.
Hayden and Cameron White replace the retiring Damien Martyn and the injured all-rounder Shane Watson in the 13-man squad.
Australia’s chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said in a statement Friday, “Damien Martyn’s retirement provides captain Ricky Ponting with an opportunity if he chooses to elevate Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey in the batting order and to bring back into the squad Matthew Hayden and Cameron White”.
He further said that Hayden’s inclusion was well deserved given his performance in the DLF Cup (in Malaysia in September), his terrific form in domestic one-day games and the recently concluded Ashes series.
About Cameron White, Andrew wasn’t short on praise again adding, “He adds depth to the batting and balance to the bowling and hopefully we can see him seize his chance.”
Defending champion Australia’s 30-man squad for the World Cup will be cut to 15 before the February 13 deadline, Cricket Australia said.
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Test opener Hayden, 35, who was not part of Australia’s successful Champions Trophy campaign in India in October-November, was also named in the 13-man squad for the triangular one-day series against New Zealand and England, starting in Melbourne on January 12.
Hayden and Cameron White replace the retiring Damien Martyn and the injured all-rounder Shane Watson in the 13-man squad.
Australia’s chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said in a statement Friday, “Damien Martyn’s retirement provides captain Ricky Ponting with an opportunity if he chooses to elevate Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey in the batting order and to bring back into the squad Matthew Hayden and Cameron White”.
He further said that Hayden’s inclusion was well deserved given his performance in the DLF Cup (in Malaysia in September), his terrific form in domestic one-day games and the recently concluded Ashes series.
About Cameron White, Andrew wasn’t short on praise again adding, “He adds depth to the batting and balance to the bowling and hopefully we can see him seize his chance.”
Defending champion Australia’s 30-man squad for the World Cup will be cut to 15 before the February 13 deadline, Cricket Australia said.
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