World Cup Bet Of The Day: South Korea - Greece
Asia clashes with Europe in our early kick-off which doesn't look like providing many goals. The odds favour that too so let's inspect what's on offer...
Jun 12, 2010 11:30:00 AM
By Patrick Reilly
Kick-Off: Saturday, June 12, 13:30 CET.
Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth, South Africa.
| Bet: | Returns: | Greece £21.00 | Draw £33.00 | Slovenia £33.00 |
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| Bet: | Returns: | Greece £22.00 | Draw £32.00 | Slovenia £30.00 |
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Some games scream 'watch me now,' and you inevitably bend to its alluring will. South Korea - Greece isn't one of them and as it's kicking off at lunchtime, when you're supposed to be in the supermarket or walking the dog, you better have a good excuse for upsetting Rover's Saturday routine.
South Korea kept favourites Spain out for 86 minutes in their most recent friendly which followed a disappointing defeat to Belarus. Prior to that they had won three
consecutive games without conceding a goal. The Taeguk Warriors didn't lose a single game in qualification where they finished ahead of their controversial rivals from the North.
Greece, forever to be cursed by bookmakers for their heroics in Euro 2004, are making their first World Cup appearance since 1994 where they lost every game and failed to score a goal. The Greeks sneaked in via the backdoor after an unlikely two leg win over Ukraine. Since then they've looked, well, leggy, clocking up a draw with North Korea and losing to Senegal.
Theofanis Gekas was the top scorer in qualifying in the European zone and is Greece's best hope. He's 7.50 to score first and 3.40 to get on the mark at anytime. Given Otto Rehhagel's preference for defensive football don't expect many goals in this clash as both teams will be cautious knowing this game represents their best chance of earning three points in the group.
Under 1.5 goals is nicely priced at 2.18, under 1.5, 2 is 1.94 and under 2 is 1.58. Between 0-1 goals is a very inviting 2.50.
Best Bet
Half-time draw at 1.80. While South Korea have the energy and inventiveness to threaten Greece I expect Rehhagel to set his side out not to concede and they should manage this for 45 minutes at least.
Local Insight
John Duerden, Goal.com Asia Editor
"South Korea are Asia's form team at the moment and look to be the continent's best bet for a place in the second round. The Taeguk Warriors defeated Greece 1-0 in 2007 and are confident of doing something similar this time.
The speedy forward play should trouble the Greek defence but questions remains as to how the Korean backline will deal with the expected aerial assault. Much depends on Park Chu-young. If the Monaco marksman is back to his best following a couple of injuries then Korea should have the necessary goal power to edge this."
John's Prediction: Korea 2-1 Greece
Odds on 2-1 Korea win: 11.0
Not that we like to brag (Ed: Yeah right) but we were bang on the money with our first tips from our best bets. Thanks to Siphiwe Tshabalala's screamer our prediction of South Africa to score first paid off handsomely as did under 2.5 goals in the snooze fest of Uruguay France. Merci. Right, we're off to walk the dog...
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Odds correct at time of publication. Goal.com encourages all readers who bet to do so sensibly.
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