Sportsbet Blog

Leading online bookmaker Sportsbet rates Harry Kewell only an outside chance to play in the 2014 World Cup.

The bookie has priced Kewell at $8 to play in Brazil, while only offering $1.05 on Harry not to play.
“Harry would be almost 36 before the next World Cup and his body has to stand up to another four tough years of football,” said Sportsbet’s Haydn Lane.
“Let’s hope all the planets align and we can go deep into this World Cup because it would be a shame for Harry to bow out after a dubious red card decision.
“It seems unlikely he’ll be there in four years time but as Aussies we’d love to be proven wrong.”

In other World Cup betting news, Australia are rated a $4 chance to beat Serbia, but are paying $11 to make it past the group stage.

Brazil and Argentina have been the best backed teams to win the World Cup, while one punter clearly has a crystal ball as he placed $10 on Portugal to win 7-0 against North Korea overnight at the odds of $401 for a $4,000 win!

Coach Pim Verbeek has named his squad for the 2010 World cup with very few surprises. 14 of the squad that did Australia proud in 2006 are there with a couple of new younger faces such as 18 year old  former Brisbane Roar winger Tommy Oar. But while the backbone of the team looks good on paper with Lucas Neill, Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell all picked do they really have what it takes to reproduce the form of four years ago.

There is no doubt that the side has done well to even gain a spot in South Africa having navigated it’s way through a tough Asian qualifying section. Trips to the likes of Bahrain and Iraq are always tough but lets be honest they are games that we would expect to come out on top in and facing these teams is nothing to facing the likes of Germany, Spain or a rampant England.

The truth is that the Socceroo’s are an aging side and barr Tim Cahill they have no world class talent. Mark Viduka has retired, Lucas Neill is not performing at the same level that saw become one of the most dominant centre backs in the English Premier League, while Harry Kewell at 31 is past his peak and will probably start the tournament just  70% fit. And as for the young talent coming through, well there isn’t any. Tommy Oar is raw and could be one for the future but I am afraid that this World Cup Campaign is going to be something of an embarrassment.

Despite my pessimistic view on the Socceroos hopes there are some good bets involving them that you should get on to. As I have already said Tim Cahill is the Aussies superstar and with his ability to get in to the box and score goals he must be a shoe in to finish as his countries top goal scorer. Sportsbet are offering $4.00 for him to do so, odds that are too good to miss out on in my opinion.

I feel that we could get something out of the Germans, yes the Germans. We will be up for the first game, Kewell will be well rested and out to prove his fitness and we could just catch them cold making $3.55 at Centrebet for a draw worth a punt. But going up against the likes of Germany, Serbia and Ghana the most likely result is that they wont even pick up a point. So go to Centrebet now and take them up on their free bet offer with odds of $7.75 you can’t lose.

There were many raised eyebrows within the Australian football world when relative unknown Pim Verbeek was handed the job as Socceroos coach. Many of us were looking for another big name to replace the one and only Gus Hiddink who guided The Roos to the 2006 World Cup Finals in Germany. It didn’t seem to matter that Hiddink had recommend his fellow Dutchman to succeed him, or that Verbeek came to the job with a wealth of experience from coaching all over the world. We wanted a Sven Goran Erikson or Roy Keane and that was that. How wrong we were. Pim Verbeek has guided his side to the brink of qualification to the 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa. It is the first time the Socceroos have tried to qualify for the tournament through the tough Asian system and they find themselves top of their group yet to conceded a goal. This is thanks mainly to the astute tactical brain of Verbeek who has been able to take his side (Mostly without the big guns playing in Europe) to far flung parts of the world and get results. Verbeek is the on the verge of going down in Socceroo history as an outright legend, but he still has work to do yet.

The Socceroos have just three games remaining in their qualifying campaign. The first will be played in Doha on 6th of June against Qatar. The Aussies smashed Qatar 4-0 when they met in October 2008. Pim Verbeek had his full squad available at the time and it paid off as Everton star TimCahill scored early to settle any nerves. Brett Emerton was the man of the match though scoring twice before Josh Kennedy finished of a Hapless Qatar side. The Socceroos will be expecting to win once again, but with playing in Doha it may not be as one sided as the game in Brisbane, even with Cahill and the likes expected to make the trip.

Even so I am predicting the Socceroos will overcome any travel sickness and get a comfortable 2-0 win. Tim Cahill first goal scorer again?. Go to Betfair for your free $50 bet.

After the trip to Doha The Soceroos come back to the mother land to play two games, one against Bahrain and the other against second placed Japan. Australia will roll over Bahrain in Sydney on June 10th making the game against Japan in Melbourne a week later vital. This top of the table clash will decide who finishes top of the group and gets seeded for the finals in 2010. When the two sides met earlier in the group Australia put in a backs to the wall type display to scrape a 0-0 draw. But with the home crowd behind them and Harry Kewell looking injury free and back to something like his best I feel that The Socceroos will get up for this one and win comfortably 3-0.

Get your free $50 bet on the game at Betfair

In a fantastic result for Australia, the Socceroos have done everything but guarantee their ticket to South Africa next year for the world’s biggest sporting event – the World Cup.

Playing in front of over 57,000 Sydneysiders at ANZ Stadium (formerly known as Telstra Stadium formerly known as Stadium Australia) the Socceroos came away with a 2-0 victory against a dogged Uzbekstani outfit who went into the game still playing for their own qualification spot.

Coming out from the half time break the scores were locked at 0-0, and coach Pim Verbeek’s decision to bring on replacement forward Josh Kennedy mid way through the second half was soon rewarded with him putting away a header to score the first goal.

The result was sealed soon after with a cool Harry Kewell slotting a free kick from the penaly spot.

Other group results meant that Australia are left needing just a draw from one of their last three matches – two of which are at home.

So although the job is not quite done it is hard not to get excited at the prospect that the Socceroos are heading to South Africa. It is a far cry from previous qualification campaigns: we were the last to qualify for the 2006 World Cup and we were the only team to go through the qualifications in 2002 undefeated…and still missed out on  a spot.

Thank you Asian Football Federation

Results From Some Other World Cup Qualifiers

World Cup Qualifier: England beat Ukraine no thanks to terrible …

There must be another goalkeeper in England apart from David James, surely. England maintain their winning streak, no thanks to their worst keeper in living memory.

World Cup Qualifiers Results-South America March 31, April 1

Here are the results from the South American World Cup 2010 Qualifiers played on March 31, 2009 and April 1, 2009. This is Round 12 of the CONMEBOL Group Round. Also check out European WC Qualifiers April 1 Results Asia WC Qualifiers …

World Cup Qualifier: WALES 0 GERMANY 2

Another World Cup home game, another 2-0 defeat but this time everyone seemed quite happy and cheerful rather than outraged and indulging in the blame game, however what a contrast. After last weekend’s gutless 2-0 collapse to Finland, …

World Cup: Czech Rep. 1, Slovakia 2

The Czechs’ remaining World Cup qualifiers are away to Slovakia (September 5th) and at home to San Marino (September 9th), Poland (October 10th) and Northern Ireland (October 14th). Uefa.com Match Report …

World Cup Qualifier Video Highlights : Bolivia 6-1 Argentina …

… strange it may sound, Diego Maradona’s three game undefeated streak came to an abrupt end after Argentina were slaughtered 6-1 by Bolivia in the altitude of La Paz. bolivia vs argentina, english premier league, EPL, world cup qualifier.

World Cup 2010 Qualifier: Europe round-up 1/4/09

Wales fought bravely but were powerless to stop Germany from extending their lead at the top of Group Four in Wednesday’s World Cup qualifier. A thunderbolt of a strike from Michael Ballack in the 11th minute saw the Germans take the …