Posted on September 7th, 2008 by JJ Duque
The European World Cup Qualifiers for the 2010 South Africa World Cup Tournament were held in various parts of Europe over the weekend.
In Group 1, Albania drew with Sweden 0-0, Hungary drew with Denmark 0-0 and Portugal defeated Malta 4-0.
In Group 2, Latvia defeated Moldova 2-1, Israel drew with Switzerland 2-2, and Greece defeated Luxembourg 3-0.
In Group 3, Poland drew with Slovenia 1-1, Slovakia defeated Northern Ireland 2-1, while San Marino and the Czech Republic have yet to play their first European World Cup qualifying match.
In Group 4, Germany defeated Liechtenstein 6-0, Wales defeated Azerbaijan 1-0, while Russia and Finland have yet to play their first European World Cup qualifying match.
In Group 5, Turkey defeated Armenia 2-0, Belgium defeated Estonia 3-2, and Spain defeated Bosnia Herzegova 1-0.
In Group 6, Ukraine defeated Belarus 1-0, England defeated Andorra 2-0, and Croatia defeated Kazakhstan 3-0.
In Group 7, Lithuania defeated Romania 3-0, Serbia defated Faroe Islands 2-0, Austria defeated France 3-1.
In Group 8, Republic of Ireland defated Georgia 2-1, Italy defeated Cyprus 2-1, Bulgaria drew with Montenegro 2-2.
In Group 9, Macedonia defeated Scotland 1-0, Norway drew with Iceland 2-2, while the Netherlands have yet to play their first European World Cup qualifying match.
Eight groups of six teams and one group of five will contest the European qualifying competition for the 2010 FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa. The nine group-winners will qualify directly, while the highest ranked eight of the nine second-placed teams will contest home and away play-off matches for the remaining four places.
The favorites to qualify directly by becoming group winners in the 2010 World Cup European Qualifiers are Portugal for Group 1, Greece for Group 2, Czech Republic for Group 3, Germany for Group 4, Spain for Group 5, England for Group 6, France for Group 7, Italy for Group 8 and Netherlands for Group 9.
Posted on August 23rd, 2008 by JJ Duque
The Italian Super Cup or Supercoppa Italiana is a football competition that is contested by the defending Italian Serie A champions and the Coppa Italia winners of the previous season.
In this year’s competition for the Italian Super Cup, the match will be fought between Coppa Italia winners AS Roma vs Inter Milan, the defending champions of the Italian Serie A.
AS Roma and Inter Milan are no strangers in the Italian Super Cup competition as they have faced each other in 2006 and in 2007. In 2006, Inter Milan beat AS Roma 4-3, winning in extra time. In 2007, it was AS Roma who had the better of Inter Milan by winning 1-0.
For the upcoming 2008 Italian Super Cup to be played again at the San Siro, Milan, the deadlock between AS Roma and Inter Milan will be determined.
AS Roma will be relying on key players like Alberto Aquilani, Francesco Totti, Cicinho, Simone Perrotta, Daniele De Rossi, Mirko Vucinic and Julio Baptista.
Inter Milan will rely on its squad with stars like Luis Figo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Hernan Crespo, Julio Cruz, Adriano, David Suazo, Cristian Chivu and Patrick Vieira.
Find out the latest odds and betting lines for the Italian Super Cup.
Posted on August 19th, 2008 by JJ Duque
Brazil vs Argentina. Ronaldinho vs Messi.
The Brazil Olympic Men’s Soccer Team has yet to win an Olympic Gold Medal. The Argentina Olympic Men’s Soccer Team are the current defending champions, and were the Olympic Gold Medal winners during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Soccer superstars Ronaldiho of Brazil and Lionel Messi of Argentina are among the highlighs of the semi-final match between Brazil vs Argentina. Of course, the winner of this Olympic semi-final soccer match will advance to the finals with the opportunity to compete for an Olympic Gold Medal, or at least be awarded with an Olympic Silver Medal.
Brazil crushed Germany 4-1 during the quarterfinal to earn a match against Argentina in the semi-final. Meanwhile, Argentina overcame Netherlands 2-1 during their quarterfinals.
Belgium vs Nigeria
Highlighting the other Olympic Men’s Soccer semi-final match will be Belgium vs Nigeria. Belgium has once won an Olympic Gold Medal in Men’s Soccer, but that was nearly a century ago in 1920. Nigeria had their Olympic Gold Medal in men’s soccer during the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games.
Nigeria knocked out the Ivory Coast 2-0 in the quarterfinals while Belgium had to get past a rather talented Italy side, and beat them 3-2.
Check out the latest odds on the semi-final matches of men’s soccer in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Posted on August 16th, 2008 by JJ Duque
Current Italian Serie A champions Inter Milan are the heavy favorites to win the Italian Serie A championship in the upcoming 2008-2009 season. If Inter Milan is successful, it will be their 4th consecutive Italian Serie A title and 17th overall.
Inter Milan were first crowned champions in the 2005-06 season when the Italian Serie A game-fixing scandal stripped Juventus FC of their title and penalized AC Milan by deducting 30 points, and thus assigning Inter Milan as the champions. In the 2006-07, wiht Juventus relegated to the Italian Serie B, and Inter Milan strengthened by taking on former Juventus players Patrick Vieira and Zlatan Ibrahimovic, it was a breeze for Inter Milan to take the championship.
Last season, Inter Milan’s title was contested by AS Roma, but Inter Milan were able to hold off on the last match of the season to win their 3rd straight Italian Serie A Championship.
Leading Inter Milan for its fourth straight Italian Serie A title, is new head coach Jose Mourinho, who takes over the post of Roberto Mancini. Of course, Jose Mourinho will have a lot of star players in its squad, which includes Hernan Crespo, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Patrick Vieira, Luis Figo, Julio Cruz, Adriano, Christina Chivu, Esteban Cambiasso and Javier Zanetti.
Recently, Inter Milan won the Beckenbauer Cup when it defeated Bayern Munich 1-0 during a friendly match in Munich. Inter Milan also won the Eusebio Cup after defeating Benfica 5-4 in penalty shots following a 0-0 draw during a friendly held at Lisbon.
Inter Milan begin their 2008-09 Italian Serie A season being visitors at Sampdoria. Other Italian Serie A matches to open the Italian Serie A 2008-09 season apart from Inter Milan vs Sampdoria include: Udinese vs Palermo, Catania vs Genoa, Cagliari vs Lazio, Torino vs Lecce, Chievo Verona vs Reggina, AS Roma vs Napoli, AC Milan vs Bologna, Atalanta vs Siena and Fiorentina vs Juventus.
Posted on August 4th, 2008 by JJ Duque
For two consecutive seasons,
Manchester United have been champions of the English Premier League, and have won the Premiership title for a total of 17 times, just one shy of the record held by
Liverpool FC, who have a total of 18 titles.
Manchester United’s claimed the English Premier League championship with a tight race against Chelsea FC, and needed to make good at the last 90 minutes of the season. Chelsea FC closed in on Manchester United in the points race, but failed to make the last game count in order to regain the English Premier League title, which they held at the 2004 to 2005 and 2005 to 2006 seasons.
Last season was also very memorable for Manchester United, who also won the UEFA Champions League title, once again overcoming English Premier League rivals Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League finals held at the Luzinski Stadium in Moscow, Russia.
Of course, Manchester United, under the leadership of Sir Alex Ferguson, are still hoping to continue their streak and grab a three-peat in the English Premier League in the upcoming 2008-2009 season.
The Manchester United squad will still have some of its key players, such as Nani, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Rio Ferdinand, Carlos Tevez and Paul Scholes. However, Manchester United might not have the services of last season’s league top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo as he might be transferred to Spanish La Liga champions Real Madrid.
Of course, Chelsea will be out to dethrone Manchester United as well as the likes of Liverpool FC and Arsenal.
Meanwhile, oddsmakers have picked Manchester United as the favorites to be outright winners of the English Premier League 2008-2009 season.
On the first week of the English Premier League, Manchester United will have a home match at Old Trafford against Newcastle United. Other matches on the first week apart from Manchester United vs Newcastle United include : Arsenal vs West Brom, Bolton Wanderers vs Stoke, Everton vs Blackburn Rovers, Hull City vs Fulham, Middlesbrough vs Tottenham Hotspurs, West Ham vs Wigan Athletic, Aston Villa vs Manchester City, Sunderland vs Liverpool and Chelsea vs Portsmouth.
Manchester United tickets, Chelsea tickets, Liverpool tickets and Arsenal tickets are available here.
Find out the latest odds and betting lines for the English Premier League by clicking here.
Posted on July 1st, 2008 by JJ Duque
A lone goal by Spanish striker Fernando Torres was the only goal that mattered as Spain ousted Germany 1-0 to bring them their first major title in 44 years. Spain are now the Euro 2008 Champions, and look forward to carry that streak into the coming 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa.
Spain’s head coach Luis Aragones will look to retire as the team’s manager, but it seems that Spain might maintain its key players like Fernando Torres, Sergio Ramos, Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Xavi Hernandez in their quest to become the 2010 World Cup Champions.
Oddsmakers consider Spain as one of the big favorites to win the 2010 World Cup. Of course, other considerations include South American teams like Brazil and Argentina.
Posted on June 27th, 2008 by JJ Duque
The Russia vs Spain match was scoreless at half-time, but it was only a matter of time until
Spain found a rhythm and relentlessly attacked the goal of Russia, resulting in three 2nd-half goals.
Xavi Hernandez scored the first for Spain from a wonderful cross by Andres Iniesta in the 50th minute. Then, David Guiza tucked in a wonderful pass from Cesc Fabregas in the 73rd minute to double the lead while David Silva added a third goal from yet another Cesc Fabregas pass to make the final scoreline 3-0 in favor of Spain, who advance to the 2008 Euro Championship to face Germany.
Spain will be relying on its superb precision passing to defeat Germany, who are considered underdogs in the match against Spain in the Euro 2008 Championship.
Spain will be looking on its stellar cast of football players like Sergio Ramos, Cesc Fabregas, Fernando Torres and David Villa to provide the Euro 2008 Championship for Spain. Meanwhile, Germany will be relying on its solid team of Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski to win the Euro 2008 Championship for Germany.
Bet on Germany vs Spain in the Euro 2008 Championship.
Euro 2008 Championship Finals Tickets available here. Germany vs Spain tickets available here.