Holland is favoured to overcome its second consecutive South American opponent tonight and progress to the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Tuesday 6th July 2010
After surprisingly knocking out tournament favourite Brazil at last week’s quarter-final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup, the Netherlands are fancied to go one step further by defeating Uruguay in tonight’s semi-final from Cape Town.
Despite an early goal for Brazil courtesy of Robinho, the Dutch fought back in the second half in Port Elizabeth on Friday with two goals from Wesley Sneijder to earn their spot in the semi-finals for the first time since 1998.
Bwin.com now lists the ‘Flying Dutchmen’ at odds of 1/2 to defeat Uruguay in normal time and progress to the final while SportingBet.com is going with 4/7.
The Netherlands has never won a World Cup despite consistently having some of the world’s best players with 888Sport.com, Bodog.com, Ladbrokes.com, WilliamHill.com, BlueSq.com, BetFred.com, bet365.com and ToteSport.com offering odds of 8/13 for a win for the Dutch over its South American opponents after 90 minutes followed by ExtraBet.com showing 5/8.
The winner of this evening’s game will face either Germany or Spain in the final from Johannesburg on July 11 with BetDaq.com, Betfair.com and WBX.com listing odds of 16/25 on Holland being there courtesy of a win over Uruguay in normal time.
Holland has only conceded three goals in five games so far in South Africa with PaddyPower.com, StanJames.com, BoyleSports.com, SkyBet.com, Coral.co.uk and VictorChandler.com showing odds of 4/6 on victory for the Europeans after normal time.
For its part, Uruguay has the best pound-for-pound record of any nation in the long history of the World Cup with the country of only 3.5 million winning two titles, 1930 and 1950, while making it to the semi-finals in 1954 and 1970. Despite this history, Uruguay could only manage a fifth-place finish in its qualifying campaign and had to overcome a playoff series against Costa Rica in order to make it to South Africa.
However, the side did well once at the tournament and finished atop a group that also included host South Africa and 2006’s beaten finalist France before dispatching South Korea in the round of 16. Uruguay then saw off Ghana following a nervy penalty shootout on Friday to earn its place in the semi-finals.
Uruguay is being shown at odds of 9/2 by SkyBet.com and ExtraBet.com to win in normal time against Holland while ToteSport.com, VictorChandler.com, PaddyPower.com, BoyleSports.com, StanJames.com, Coral.co.uk and Bodog.com are going with 5/1.
Uruguay’s success could depend in large part on the performance of star striker Diego Forlan with WilliamHill.com, Ladbrokes.com, 888Sport.com, BlueSq.com and SportingBet.com showing odds of 11/2 on success for the South Americans after 90 minutes. This is being followed by WBX.com offering 29/5 and Betfair.com and BetDaq.com showing 59/10 before Bet365.com, Bwin.com and BetFred.com with 6/1.
Should the match remain level after 90 minutes, the teams will play two 15-minute periods of extra time, which is an eventuality Coral.co.uk, WilliamHill.com and Ladbrokes.com are offering at odds of 12/5.
This outcome would represent Uruguay’s third draw after 90 minutes at the tournament and is being shown at odds of 5/2 by BoyleSports.com, 888Sport.com, StanJames.com, SportingBet.com, PaddyPower.com, bet365.com, Bodog.com, ExtraBet.com and BlueSq.com.
Slightly longer, WBX.com is going with odds of 63/25 on a tie after normal time followed by SkyBet.com, VictorChandler.com, BetFred.com and ToteSport.com with 13/5 and Bwin.com, BetDaq.com and Betfair.com offering 27/10.
