Despite His White Boots

Football, football, football and, if the mood takes me, more football.

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Dead Games, Dead Money

I can't see past a draw in the England-Sweden game tonight, 2 pts @ 2.74. All the signs point to a draw even at a slightly miserly 7/4.

This afternoon I will be funking for Ecuador, not just because if they win the group I'll win my group bet, but also because, admit it, we'd all be up for England-Germany in the next round. That's what the World Cup's all about. Not just for the occasion, but because from what I've seen, Ecuador would cause England just as many problems as Germany but, crucially, England would surely raise their game for a clash with "the old enemy" [1]. I know it's the World Cup and they should be up for it against anybody, but sadly in practice that doesn't seem to be the case.

In the group betting, Tunisia gave me a hopeful half hour yesterday before Spain crushed them like bugs, so that one's gone South, but France are still spectacularly awful enough to resist the temptation to hedge by betting them back to win the Group, even at a price of 4+. Portugal (to win) and Australia (to qualify) are both significantly shorter than the prices I backed them at, so I'm fairly optimistic that I can score a profit on the groups.

[1] The old enemy being whichever of Germany, Argentina, France, Scotland, Ireland ... we happen to be playing. Can we not get on with anyone ?

1 Comments:

  • At 10:24 AM, Blogger Andy_Ward said…

    I joke about the fix being in above, but I'm very loath to lay a result that both teams would be happy with in any circumstances. The game ending in a draw is more like checking down the all-in than outright collusion.

    Truly awful defending on the goals, yes. Most of the teams in the Championship defend set pieces better than that.

    Andy.

     

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