July 1 - It was the greatest betting shock in the 2006 World Cup as Brazil, the defending champions, were eliminated today by France. The odds to win the World Cup are now wide open with four European countries left to battle it out.
Brazil were no match for France who won 1-0 and were full value for the win. It was a fantastic result for the bookies, with online sportsbooks reporting that Brazil had much of the action, not only for this game but to win the World Cup as well.
Zidane was the undisputed man of the match dominating the midfield. It was his precise free kick that set up the volleyed goal by Henry, France's deadly combination finally back to their best. Brazil created few good chances and once again a World Cup on European soil will be won by a team from Europe.
The semi-final lineup looks very tough to handicap in terms of betting value. Germany play Italy while Portugal will play France.
Portugal are a superbly coached team but France have the individual experience. Germany will have the home-field edge but Italy are probably the most complete team at this year's World Cup with no weaknesses.
Be sure to check out a site like Intertops - they've impressed us with some good-value stretches in their World Cup odds, plus they have cool "prop" bets that are always fun to take.
Del.icio.us
Digg
Google
Spurl
Furl
Simpy
Y! MyWeb
OnlyWire
Redit
StumbleUpon
Technocrati