Portugal (2.30) Draw (2.90) Germany (3.10)
Total: 2 ½ goals Over (2.30) Under (1.55)
This one has all the makings to be the best match we’ve seen so far in the tournament, but it’s a tough one to handicap.
Germany hasn’t looked like they deserve the billing as the pre-tournament favorite since their first game, but that doesn’t mean the quality isn’t still there. Portugal, meanwhile, looks like they might score every time they cross midfield.
I think there’s value in Germany today after everything boiled over in their narrow win over Austria. Podolski and Ballack have been good, but can be better, while Klose and Gomez haven’t really shown anything yet. Now with their coach watching from the sidelines and everybody berating them, this is the time that this German side might finally band together and start playing with the rhythm everyone expected from them. Ballack will have them ready to go today.
If they’re in top form, they’re strong enough in the middle to keep Portugal’s electric midfield form gorging them and they play as well with a lead as any club in the tournament. I also think they’ll be able to generate offense on the counterattack with Portugal getting caught deep. That said, keeping your shape against Ronaldo, Deco and the rest of the Portuguese trickery is far from an easy task.
My problem with this one is I’m having a tough time getting off this totals kick I’ve been on during the tournament. I think an underdog bet at this price is definitely worth a shot, but I’ll stick with the over here. We’ll have goals today.
Pick: Over (2.30)
Croatia (1.90) Draw (3.10) Turkey 4.00
Total 2 ½ goals Over (2.20) Under (1.60)
Turkey’s advanced with more smoke and mirrors than you’d see at a carnival haunted house.
They stunned both Swiss and the Czechs with late goals to advance to this stage, but their 2-0 loss to Portugal is more indicative of this team’s true form. Turkey’s tenacity is admirable, though at this point they aren’t going to surprise anybody and it doesn’t seem like they have the talent to keep pace now that the elimination rounds are underway.
Turkey also has a sizable list of injured or suspended players heading into this match and Losing their starting goalkeeper due to a foolish red card against the Czechs just makes Friday’s hill steeper to climb.
Croatia is just a team you don’t want to fool around with right now. They have a ton of experience at the back that has yielded just a single goal so far and have good poise about them all over the pitch.
And if the Croats needed another reason to keep this run going, team captain Nico Kovac says these Euros are his last hurrah with the national team.
Pick: Croatia
Euro 2008 snuck up on me a bit this year, I think partially because I was subconsciously trying to avoid the inevitable - an England-less European Championship.
Nearing the end of the preliminary round, it still doesn't feel quite right without the lewd chants and jeering, the British tabloids and all, but I'm slowing coming around - mostly because my bankroll is bulging for the first time since football (er, American football) season. I jumped in a seeded Euro pool to force myself to do a little homework before the opening games. Good move by me.
I did a bit of reading about what the sides were all about and picked Germany, Holland, Portugal, Spain, Russia, and France as my six with zee favored Germans as my overall winner. Apart from France, I like what I've seen.
I'm not normally a parlay guy, but I've already hit three so far in the tournament, basically playing over 2 1/2-goal totals with teams like Netherlands, Spain and Portugal - even Germany has the capability to top totals even when they keep a clean sheet. These sides aren't slowing down for anybody and all have dangerous attacking threats not just up front, but at a number of different positions on the pitch. That's what makes these teams so tough.
For Monday's action I like Germany in a match that might be a lot tougher than expected against the plucky Austrians and under 2 1/2 goals in Poland-Croatia.
Last weekend I found my Magic again after more than a decade. Don't laugh; the funny thing is I have a Superman costume to thank for it.
I didn’t really get into the NBA until I was 12 – old enough to make a responsible decision about picking a favorite team, but still young enough to cave to the next cool thing in a minute.
So when my parents packed my brothers and I up, threw us in a minivan and started a four-day trek from Eastern Canada to Orlando in the middle of the worst snowstorm I’ve ever been mobile in, you better believe I was doing some serious reading about this monster Shaquille O’Neal kid coming out of LSU.
When we (finally) made it to Orlando, the Shaq Attack wave was rolling strong and I was swallowed up by it just like all the rest of the white khakis and sun hats strolling around sunny Florida. Like a spoiled brat, I remember being completely pissed that we didn’t end up getting tickets to a Magic game while we were there, even though I already dragged my folks to some god-awful MLB spring training games and a Tampa Bay Lightning game (caught Pavel Bure’s 55th-goal puck at the game – vintage Bure flying in on a breakaway, head fake and then snapped it five-hole).
Anyway, two weeks in Florida was all I needed to consider myself an Orlando Magic expert. That scrappy Scott Skiles ran a tight ship and the club ended up a solid 41-41 in O’Neal’s rookie year.
Fast-forward four years later and I’m ripping Shaq posters off my wall and kicking Lil’ Penny to the curb when Jerry West, that sly devil, ‘made it rain’ for O’Neal to move to La La Land. It’s those kind of money moves that really sting when you’re a kid. First Gretzky and then Shaq – I was developing a dangerous hate-on for Tinsel Town.
It probably wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened anyway. I started putting bets down not long after that and not having any sort of alliance to a certain team helped me keep any biases at bay while I bet away my paper route money. I still kept a fairly close eye what Orlando was up to and loved cashing in on them over the last couple of years too. But that was the extent of my relationship with the NBA from that point forward, or at least until last weekend’s Dunk Competition when Dwight ‘Baby Shaq’ Howard brought the house down with his Superman routine.
The second coming of Shaq? How could I resist? The guy jumped out of the gym and chucked the rock through. He dunked with his head behind the backboard for gad sakes.
So, even though I rarely bet teams I’m crushing on, I jumped at Orlando +11 in the club’s first game back from the break against the mighty Pistons and watched the Magic rip Detroit by 18.
Now I might be hooked all over again. Possibly. Maybe I need an Orlando vacation. I’ll keep you posted.