Previews

Germany favourites for third place

Author: Craig Williams
Date: 10/07/2010
Football betting

With the curtain coming down on this summer's World Cup finals in South Africa, the losing semi-finalists, Uruguay and Germany, contest the third-place play-off in Port Elizabeth on Saturday evening.

The South Americans, with Oscar Tabarez at the helm, have impressed many as they crept their way into the last-four, but they came unstuck at the hands of Netherlands.

Goals from Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben ultimately proved enough for the Oranje to progress to their third World Cup final, leaving Uruguay to ponder on an exciting adventure.

Germany themselves were big outsiders at the start of the competition and they will be happy with the progress they have made.

They started their quest in epic fashion as they hammered Australia 4-0 and, in the second round, they squashed England 4-1 before dishing out another 4-0 mauling, this time to the much-fancied Argentina, in the quarter-finals.

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Joachim Low may well be upset his side failed to flourish during their 1-0 semi-final loss to Spain, but he will be content that he has grouped together a fine squad for the future.

Players such as Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil, Manuel Neuer and Jerome Boateng have impressed alongside mainstays Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski and Bastian Schweinsteiger.

Philipp Lahm, who was handed the captain's armband in Michael Ballack's absence, looks set to lead the Germans into the future and, although it's a case of so close yet so far, they should take great positives from their efforts.

Like Germany, who are the online betting favourites to win the clash, Uruguay have won themselves a few neutral fans along the way with their wholehearted performances.

Diego Forlan has once again demonstrated why he is one of Europe's top strikers while fellow frontman, Luis Suarez, who broke Ghana hearts by handling on the goal-line at the end of their 1-1 quarter-final draw that Celeste eventually won on penalties, also impressed and he could be on the verge of a big-money move in the summer.

But despite their recent failings, the despondent sides can put on a spectacle in this penultimate game of the South Africa showpiece.

Expect Forlan, Suarez, Edinson Cavani, Ozil, Muller and Schweinsteiger to further enhance their reputations on the big stage.

With the pressure now off, history tells us we can expect to see a few goals.

In the previous seven World Cup finals, the third and fourth-place play-off games have dished up no less than 30 goals.

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