FRIDAY JUNE 8th
Big day, Euro 2012 is finally here,
we have the Men's Semi Finals at Roland Garros ( or maybe not) , the
Serie B relegation playoff and a selection of World cup qualifiers, but
after much deliberation I will pass on those.Canada did get my attention after playing very well against the US in midweek though and have travelled to Havana to face Cuba in pretty bouyant mood.
These are the two weaker teams in the group and as such, both should
be looking for the win, Cuba have been hit by defections to the US in
recent years, all their players play domestic football and striker Alain
Cervantes hinted at a lack of confidence saying " we lack a killer
instinct and skill at decisive moments, in part due to our lack of
international experience". However, positives for the hosts are a poor
pitch and gruelling conditions, match is going to be played at the
hottest time of the day (31 degrees), but with a Humidex** reading of 43C/109F ( !) not a game to get involved with and certainly not one to take very low odds about the visitors in.
** Humidex is an index number used to describe how hot the weather "feels", by combining the effect of heat and humidity.
FRENCH OPEN TENNIS : MEN'S SEMI FINALS
It is cold, windy and wet in my
part of the world this morning and conditions are set to be very similar
at Roland Garros and to remain so all day. If forecasters are correct,
it is going to be very difficult to get both semi's completed , which is
going to hand an even bigger advantage to Rafael Nadal who is first on
court and he could easily be in the final and with his feet up, whilst
Federer and Djokovic are still waiting for the weather to clear !
It is very hard to make a case for
" Mini Rafa " or David Ferrer to give him his official name, defeating the
real deal. Rafa has won their last 12 h2h meetings on clay, the last
seven all in straight sets and has looked imperious this year, being
broken just once and only taken beyond three games twice, in winning 15
sets in the last fortnight. On Monday, he beat Argentina's Juan Monaco
and world number 15, 6-2, 6-0, 6-0 in a complete rout, that match was
played in very similar conditions to what we will see today. Monaco said
that it would be "practically impossible" for any player to defeat
Nadal at this year's event. Adding "I
know him, because of how he's been feeling on court the past few weeks
and having won those last two matches against Djokovic, has made
him believe even more in his tennis" It was cold and windy on court,
Rafa was a virtual wall from the
baseline, committing just 13 unforced errors during the one-hour,
46 minute match, combing defense and consistency with
powerful shot-making on the forehand side, producing a total of 23
winners.
Ferrer had his final against
Murray in the quarters, his target was a first RG semi and he has made
it, I suspect mentally his intensity will slip a little , he has a very
similar game to Rafa, but cannot play it as well or as consistenly and
whilst I am not putting up a bet today, I again expect Nadal to want to
get this finished as quickly as possible and show no mercy once he gets
on top of Ferrer.
EURO 2012
RUSSIA - CZECH REPUBLIC
POLAND - GREECE
It is very difficult to see too
many goals in this game and the Greeks especially are tough to break
down, they were 17 games unbeaten until recently and regardless of
opposition, that is incredibly impressive at international level and
breeds confidence .Captain Giorgos Karagounis has not done much to
change the general opinion of his team as a purely defensive unit by
stating that they must avoid
defeat in their opening game if they are to have any chance of making
the quarter-finals, the 35-year-old midfielder said: “If you cannot win
then you must not lose because it is the first match ". The Greeks only
conceded five times in qualification and have a miserly defence built
around the central defensive partnership of
Avraam Papadopoulos and Sokratis Papastathopoulos, but the whole squad
is very experienced, close knit and knows what is expected of them. They
have a huge threat from set pieces (nothing changes) just ask Croatia
and have a couple of a wildcards in Sotiris
Ninis and Giannis Fetfatzidis, the former will play on the right side of
midfield. Injuries have meant the 22yo has not quite fulfilled his
potential yet, but he guided Greece to the final of the U-19 European
Championship and was named MVP of the tournament and after not playing
much until March this season, should be fresher than most at the
Championships, he plays more centrally for his club, but wide
internationally and is capable of great things on a going day, he will
be playing in Italy next season. Fetfatzidis the "Greek Messi" is tiny
and has been having growth hormone treatments,
but lacks nothing in talent , he will be on the bench,..... REST OF THE PREVIEW IS RESTRICTED
SERIE B PLAYOFFS : EMPOLI- VICENZA
First leg finished 0-0, ahead of which I wrote ....I am not going to waste too long on this, these relegation playoffs have traditionally been very tight, with the last three first legs all ending in draws, two of which were scoreless, the second legs then tend to open up, but in what is low scoring league in any case, or at least was until recently, teams tend to revert to type with so much on the line. These two met just three weeks ago in Empoli and played out a tight 1-1 draw, with both very cautious early and we can expect the same today. Empoli trained behind closed doors for three days this week and the general consensus of opinion is that they have been experimenting with an extra midfielder in order to combat Vicenza, who have indicated in training this week that they will play effectively a 3-5-1-1 . A packed midfield is not going to make things any less tight and I like the draw here at 3.10 + on the exchanges, there is some 2.0 around for the half time stalemate and that looks a good call, with Vicenza drawing 12 of 21 at the break this season and scoring just six first half goals on home soil.
That went pretty much according to
plan and I expect the second leg tonight to go the way of these
previous games and the first goal to throw this match wide open. Vicenza
have scored 24 road goals this season, just one less than they have
managed at home and Empoli have conceded 33 times on home soild, only
relegated Nocerina have allowed more. There were chances at both ends in
the first game and Vicenza felt they did enough to have won the match
and now know that they will be playing Lega Pro football next season if
they do not win tonight. Hosts will survive with a point, by virtue of
their higher league placing, as away goals do not count double. I cannot
see Empoli being too expansive early and they will set out to hold on
to what they have and do have more quality in their squad, but it is a
very dangerous game to try and hold out for 90 minutes,Vicenza will have
to gamble and the first goal for either, regardless of when it comes
will throw this match into chaos. I am tempted to take Vicenza + 0.5
ball as this also gives us the draw, which will suit Empoli very well,
but I just about prefer the "over" alternative, I have seen it before
with these second leg games, there will be some very nervous footballers
out there, mistakes will be made and I expect both to score, maybe 2-2,
but I will opt for 1.5 units "over" 2 goals 1.84 asian line.
Likely starting line ups:
EMPOLI(4-3-1-2): Dossena; Buscè,Ficagna,Stovini,Gorzegno; Signorelli,Moro,Valdifiori; Saponara; Maccarone,Tavano
VICENZA(4-4-1-1): Frison; Brighenti,Martinelli,Pisano,Giani; Gavazzi,Soligo,Motta,Maiorino; Pinardi; Paolucci
Very
interesting looking day tomorrow, two Euro 2012 matches to discuss and
my first strong match bet of the competition, I will also preview the
Women's final from Roland Garros and the South American World Cup games, where I have another very solid pick.
Good Luck.
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