North Korea versus Ivory Coast 25/06/10

The final match of group G looks to be an entertaining one with North Korea looking to save face while the Ivory Coast looks to beat Portugal's 7-0 result in order to stay in contention to move on to the next round. While an 9-0 or more result seems unlikely, both teams will be playing for pride in order to leave the 2010 World Cup on a high.

North Korea: While coming off a 7-0 loss to Portugal, the North Koreans managed to keep Ronaldo tame. They looked like worthy challengers until they conceded their first goal. With nothing left to lose expect the North Koreans to tighten up in the back and look to finally unleash Ji-Yun Nam's potential that he showed during qualifiers.

What to look for: A very solid defense looking to capitalize on the counter.

Ivory Coast: With a very improbably scoreline to make, this team will be pushing as hard as they can to meet it. They will be expecting Brazil to defeat Portugal in order to keep them in contention but will need to focus on scoring as much as they can as fast as they can. Star player Didier Drogba has scored once in this tournament and looks set to add to his goal tally.

What to look for: An all out attack from the beginning in order to chase the required 9-0 victory.

Prediction: The chances of the Ivory Coast advancing are very slim, and though Portugal managed a 7-0 victory against North Korea, the North Korean's are content not to let that happen again. Score will be 3-1 to Ivory Coast.

Cameroon versus Netherlands 24/06/10

With the Netherlands already guaranteed a spot through, and Cameroon effectively out of the tournament, this match will come down to pride versus form. Cameroon, having lost both group games against Japan and Denmark, will be playing purely for pride infront a large home crowd. Their captain Samuel Eto will be itching to pull a victory against group leaders the Netherlands. The Netherlands have to options of play for tonights game. They will either rest starting players and field a younger less experienced team or, according to their coach, treat this game as importantly as the first two.

Cameroon: With pride on the line they look set to follow in the footsteps of South Africa, who beat France 2-1 while failing to move on to the second stage. With only a few key players they look set to capitalize on any defensive mistakes, as they did against Denmark.

What to look for: A very offensive 1st half aiming to break down the Netherlands defense early and poaching any opportunities that arise in the 2nd half.

The Netherlands: Already qualified the Netherlands look to maintain their winning form. Their coach expects nothing but a win. With a guaranteed spot in the second round it is possible that they will play relaxed which might be benefitial for them. The clear favourites to win their starting line up will be an idication of how they aim to approach this game.

What to look for: A full forced Holland team looking to dominate Cameroon with star player Robben sitting on the bench looking likely to see some game time.

Prediction: While the South African team defeated the French, they defeated a low morale, poor performing team. Cameroon looks to duplicate that success but the Netherlands are on form and aim to continue their success. 2-0 victory for the Netherlands.

Denmark versus Japan 24/06/10

This is a huge match for both teams today. Essentially it is a battle for second place and a trip to the round of 16. Both teams have lost to Group E powerhouse the Netherlands, who look likely to dispatch Cameroon. Regardless of whether or not they win they are guaranteed to go through. Denmark has conceded more goals than Japan in their past two games and because of this a draw with Japan would not suffice.

Japan: Japan have played well this tournament, upsetting Cameron with a 1-0 victory. They were then defeated but managed to hold the Netherlands to a narrow 1-0 victory. With a highly disciplined team they look set to give Denmark a hard fought match.

What to look out for: Japan on the break and counter attacks. The Danish defense has not been playing particularly well, creating scoring opportunities for the opposition. Japan will look to exploit any moment of weakness and hold their lead as they did against Cameroon.

Denmark: Suffering a 2-0 loss to the Netherlands during their opening group match seemed to affect them going into their match against Cameroon when they went down 1-0 in the early minutes of the 1st half. However, they had the composure to fight back to a 2-1 victory. With the height factor put into play the Danes look likely to dominate an aerial dogfight and keep Japan on edge during corner kicks. One problem for the Danes though is that their star striker Nicklas Bendtner looks unlike to play in this decisive match.

What to look out for: A strong attacking flow from the 1st whistle. A win is Denmark's only option. Look for them to maintain possession and keep the Japanese defense under pressure.

Prediction: Japan only need a draw to go through and will most likely play a defensive game looking for counter attacking opportunities. Without star player Bendtner, the Danes have suffered a setback but still have a team capable of challenging the worlds best. My prediction is a narrow 1-0 victory for the Danes.

Introduction

Hi everybody! My name is Scot, a 21 year old University student in New Zealand, and I've just recently got in to the world of sports betting. My first bet was on Game 7 of the NBA finals. I bet on the Celtics to win. We all know how that went, but I'm not going to go into who should've won etc. If want to hear about that then check out NFLranking on Youtube. After Game 7 I began placing bets on the 2010 World Cup which is still going on as I write this. So far I've managed to quadruple my money. My recent predictions have been Chile defeating Switzerland, Germany beating Ghana, England beating Slovenia 1-0, and South Africa defeating France 2-1. This blog aims to encourage people to give their opinions on predictions as well as give their own predictions. This blog will start off focusing on the 2010 World Cup as that is currently the most prominent sporting event, but I hope that as time goes on more people will begin to add comments detailing other sporting events. So enjoy, and don't forget to comment! Who knows, your predictions just might help someone out!