Reasons to oppose Samba Stars

Posted on July 3, 2012 by SoccerCapper

The pressure of winning a World Cup on home soil and the lack of a genuine superstar are reasons enough to oppose home nation Brazil at 7/2 (tournament outright) winning the 2014 World Cup.

Add to this the statistic that of the 13 stagings of the showpiece event, only five host nations have won it on home soil, and punters are right to look away from Mano Menezes leading the current crop of Samba Stars to world domination.

Brazil can point to fellow South American nations Uruguay (1930) and Argentina (1974) winning the World Cup in their own back yard and it is true that friendly form offers few clues when it comes to the business end of tournaments.

Punters have to cast their minds back almost 12 months ago for the most recent and telling lines of form about the Brazilians.

A poor Copa America campaign yielded just one win from a group containing Venezuela, Paraguay and Ecuador. Defeat in the quarter-finals by the eventual finalists Paraguay and the silence back on the Copacabana Beach was deafening.

A friendly defeat by Germany followed before an impressive run of form which produced a 10-game unbeaten run, although job-done wins against the likes of Ghana and Gabon are devilishly difficult to decipher.

It is curious that in that run the Brazilians only ever managed to score over two goals twice, while they did manage to keep six clean sheets, suggesting substance over style has become the new mandate for success.

Only last month A Selecao lost two friendlies – to South American neighbours Mexico and a Lionel Messi-inspired Argentina – to suggest Menezes has his work cut out between now and the staging of the tournament.

In mitigation this is a Brazil side which has yet to peak – at 28 goalkeeper Jefferson is the oldest member of the current squad – and with age comes experience.

The Brazil sides of yesteryear have had household superstars to carry the weight of expectation, but the current squad lacks that box office attraction.

Santos favourite Neymar could light up the tournament and possesses moments of magnetism, while Alexandre Pato and Hulk also have age on their side.

Thiago Silva is now in his peak years for AC Milan and left-back Marcelo offers an excellent out-ball, but a lack of experience at international level in midfield could cost Brazil.

By contrast, Spain (4/1 – 2014 World Cup outright) have just won a third successive major international tournament to consign their also-rans tag to the dustbin and look the more complete package, while the climate is unlikely to trouble them.

Germany’s exciting crop of emerging talent will benefit from a painful Euro 2012 exit (8/1 Germany – 2014 World Cup outright), while other South American nations, subject to qualifying, such as Uruguay (20/1 – 2014 World Cup outright), the top side for the region at the 2010 World Cup, will feel they too can steal Brazil’s thunder.

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Spain stars in Mestalla shoot-out

Posted on September 20, 2011 by SoccerCapper

Roberto Soldado and David Villa will bid for top billing when unbeaten leaders Valencia entertain champions Barcelona in the pick of five La Liga matches on Wednesday.

Former Getafe striker Soldado has pushed his claim to be the principal striker for Los Che with five goals in three game league games so far this season – including a hat-trick in a 4-3 win against Racing Santander on the opening weekend of the Spanish season – and will be desperate to show former Mestalla favourite Villa he is not missed.

Villa – who scored 107 league goals in five seasons for Valencia, before leaving for Camp Nou at the start of last season – has had to play second fiddle to free-scoring Argentinian maestro Lionel Messi but finally opened his campaign with a brace in the 8-0 rout of Osasuna at the weekend.

The World Cup winner missed the corresponding fixture at Mestalla last season (which Barca won 1-0), but will be anxious to put one over his former employers.

Soldado, given his start to the season, is a wholly attractive 9/4 to score anytime against Barca. He is also a speculative 8/1 to score first, which he has done is two of Valencia’s three La Liga games so far.

Villa cannot be ignored at 5/4 to score anytime with the incentive of going back to the Mestalla, while Barca can be backed at 1/3 in the To Score First Goal market, which is priced accordingly given that this bet would have landed in all of their three La Liga games so far.

Gerard Pique, who suffered a calf injury during training for the Spanish Super Cup on August 23, took part in training on Monday but Pep Guardiola has given no indication whether he will replace makeshift central defender Javier Mascherano.

Elsewhere in La Liga on Wednesday, Real Madrid should get back on track against winless Racing Santander at Campos de Sport de El Sardinero (Racing Santander 11/1, draw 5/1, Real Madrid 2/9 – Match Prices).

Atletico Madrid will be hoping to make it three clean sheets on the bounce in all competitions, when they play host to basement club Sporting Gijon (Atletico Madrid 2/5, draw 10/3, Sporting Gijon 13/2 – Match Prices).

And this summer’s big-spenders Malaga will be expected to collect maximum points and keep a third La Liga clean sheet against strugglers Athletic Bilbao (Malaga 4/6, draw 11/4, Athletic Bilbao 4/1 – Match Prices).

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Wenger confident stars will stay

Posted on July 11, 2011 by SoccerCapper

Arsene Wenger put on a very public face on Monday to reiterate his desire to keep Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas at Arsenal – but the truth of the matter rests with the players (1/2 Arsenal – Premier League Top 4 Finish).

Spanish and European champions Barcelona have made no secret of their desire to return homegrown talent Fabregas to Camp Nou, perhaps acutely aware that midfield superstar Xavi is now the wrong side of 30, and Arsenal’s Premier League title rivals have been busy forming a queue to sign Nasri.

The Frenchman used his first press conference ahead of the new season to dismiss suggestions he and Nasri were certain to leave in what promises to be a fascinating close-season at the Emirates (7/1 Arsenal – Premier League outright).

“Our position is always the same – we want to keep Cesc and I will fight as hard as I can to keep him. Samir Nasri is exactly the same. We will do everything we can to keep him,” said Wenger. “I’m confident we can get both of them to stay.”

The situation is clear with Nasri in so much as he has just 12 months left on his contract and conjecture about any player’s future at such a juncture is inevitable.

It was telling and curious that Wenger intimated only Nasri knows whether he will put pen to paper.

Asked about his countryman, Wenger added: “Will he be at the club next season? I say yes. The second part (of the question) – will he sign a new contract? I hope yes, but I am not the only one to decide.”

A disparity in the clubs’ respective valuations of 24-year-old Fabregas has stopped his move back to his place of birth and so the wait goes on, but it is fair to suggest something has to give if the World Cup winner has decided home is really where his heart is.

Wenger has also confirmed the signing of the Ivory Coast forward Gervinho from Lille and revealed Nicklas Bendtner and Manuel Almunia have not travelled to the Far East because they are in talks with other clubs about leaving Arsenal.

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Black Stars out to shine

Posted on March 28, 2011 by SoccerCapper

Having come through the game that mattered at a canter against the Welsh on Saturday Fabio Capello and co turn their attention to Ghana and a chance to experiment.

Gareth Barry will lead out a much-changed England side from the one that won in Cardiff and it will be a great chance to see who can stake a claim for a regularly place in Capello’s side. Ghana proved to be no pushovers at the World Cup and will provide a stern test for an inexperienced England side.

The majority of football fans will be looking at this game and just hoping none of their team’s players come back with any injuries, given the period of the domestic season we are entering. As usual Capello will look at the game as a chance to experiment ahead of June’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Switzerland.

The Italian will also hope that the Black Stars provide more of a test to his team than a largely toothless Wales did. Having released John Terry, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole and Michael Dawson due to their Champions League commitments it was always going to be something of a scratch side.

Despite all the changes England are still 8/13 to beat Ghana on Tuesday, with the Black Stars priced at 9/2 while the draw is on at 13/5. The odds for Ghana look appealing when you consider they went further than England at the World Cup and had it not been for Asamoah Gyan’s missed penalty they would have made it through to the semi-finals. The African nation established themselves as a good side at the tournament and have name a decent looking squad for the trip to Wembley.

The midfield options for Ghana look particularly impressive and Scott Parker and Jack Wilshere might have their hands full against the likes of Anthony Annan, Kwadwo Asamoah, Sulley Muntari and Kevin-Prince Boateng. Ghana coach Goran Stevanovic is less likely to see this game as a training exercise and will probably field a strong looking team.

With the internationally inexperienced Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill playing a centre-half for England Ghana might fancy their chances of at least getting on the score sheet and both teams to score at even money might be worth a look.

You’d think England will be too strong for Ghana in the end but as they proved at the World Cup you can never discount the Black Stars. Those who do pull on the Three Lions shirt will have to be prepared to match Ghana’s work rate and you’d think the fringe players in the team will be willing to do that. Already Capello has revealed Leighton Baines will join Cahill and Jagielka in making up part of the back four. Parker and Wilshere are likely to play at the heart of the midfield as they look to oust Steven Gerrard and Lampard.

The Italian has also given the nod to Andy Carroll to start up front, potentially alongside Darren Bent, who has been in a rich vein of form for his country recently. The Villa striker has scored three in his last three appearances for his country and might be worth a look to make it four from four. Bent is evens to score anytime and 4/1 to get the first goal.

Having got an easy ride on Saturday expect Ghana to give England a stern test at Wembley. While the result of the match won’t matter so much to Capello it will be important for the fans to see their team record another win as they try and restore some faith in the side after the World Cup.

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Chelsea stars close to comeback

Posted on September 8, 2010 by SoccerCapper

Carlo Ancelotti is hoping that Chelsea (6/5 to win Premier League) stars John Terry and Frank Lampard both continue their progress returning from injury in time to face West Ham at the weekend.

The duo both missed the latest round of international games, but that has allowed the Italian manager to assess the rehabilitation of his captain and vice-captain at Chelsea’s Cobham training base.

Chelsea have had an impressive start to their Premier League season and are the only side with maximum points from their first three games.

In that time the Blues have scored 14 goals and conceded none and their fans will be hoping that impressive record can continue against West Ham at Upton Park this weekend (West Ham 15/2, Chelsea 1/3, draw 18/5).

The Hammers are currently rooted to the bottom of the Premier League with three defeats from three games, and things could be looking even worse for their fans as Ancelotti has claimed there is a chance that both Lampard and Terry could line up for the game.

“Lampard had surgery on Tuesday and I think that he will start to train this week. I don’t know when but we will see how he trains and we will take a decision for the game against West Ham,” said the manager.

“Terry didn’t have surgery but he used the last week to improve his hamstring. He will start to train with the squad this week and I think he will be able to play against West Ham.”

After the West Ham game, Chelsea then get their Champions League campaign underway with a trip to play Slovakian side MSK Zilina (Chelsea 11/2 to win tournament).

For all their success since Roman Abramovich took over the West London club, the Champions League trophy has been the one that has eluded them over the years.

Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien recently said that he was confident that curse could be broken this season, especially after the club looked so impressive winning their first ever league and FA Cup double last season.

The Ghana star said the club aim to “win every competition” they enter and, while they seem a certainty to get out of the group with MSK Zilina, Spartak Moscow and Marseille (Chelsea 2/9 to win Group F), he thinks they stand a great chance of winning the Champions League.

“As a player you get the inner feeling that something big is around the corner and I feel the same way I felt last season when we won the double,” said Essien.

“However I am sure we can go one further and add the big one – the UEFA Champions League to our collection of trophies.”

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Harry hails Euro stars

Posted on August 26, 2010 by SoccerCapper

Harry Redknapp said he always believed Tottenham were capable of reaching the Champions League after seeing his side (40/1 – Champions League outright) overturn a 3-2 first-leg defeat to beat Young Boys 4-0 and reach the group stages of the competition.

The north London outfit now join rivals Arsenal, Manchester United, Chelsea and SPL champions Rangers in the hat for Thursday’s draw.

Tottenham have been placed in pot three, along with Rangers, and are destined to be paired with either last year’s winners Inter Milan, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, AC Milan or Lyon.

They cannot face another English side yet and as such will be paired with one of the European super powers mentioned above.

However, Tottenham (5/2 – Premier League top-4 finish) won’t mind who they are paired with after finally returning to Europe’s top competition following a 49-year absence.

The group stages alone are worth £11million to each club involved, with last season’s champions Inter Milan eventually being given £40million for winning the competition.

Spurs’ qualification for the first round had been in doubt heading into Wednesday’s game, with Young Boys holding a 3-2 lead from the first leg of the tie.

However, Tottenham quickly drew themselves level on aggregate thanks to Peter Crouch’s header and from then on never looked back, dominating the Swiss side.

Crouch eventually completed his hat-trick while Jermain Defoe got the other as they won 4-0 on the night, 6-3 on aggregate.

Spurs’ entry into the Champions League completes a remarkable turnaround by Redknapp, who took over at White Hart Lane two years ago with the club languishing at the foot of the Premier League.

The former West Ham, Portsmouth and Southampton manager says he always believed he could get Tottenham into the Champions League and claims this is where the north London club belongs.

“I always felt it was possible. Tottenham were a club which had underachieved for a long time,” Redknapp said.

“The potential was here if we could get the players, and it is not as if I have bought a new team, it was just about instilling a bit of confidence, getting them playing and maybe changing their attitude in some cases. They responded and we have ended up where we have.”

Redknapp went on to give further joy to Tottenham fans by claiming that Defoe (22/1 – Premier League top scorer) might not need surgery on an injured groin muscle after all.

The England striker started the game on Wednesday having revealed earlier in the day that he would need surgery after the match to correct a long-standing injury.

However, Redknapp has played down those fears, claiming Defoe didn’t feel any pain during his time he was on the pitch.

“Now he is saying he might not need it,” he added.

“We are in the hands of the medical people, but he said he did not feel anything tonight.”