South Africa and France to start strong
South Africa $3.00 – Mexico $2.72
Home win for this writer. I would be prepared to accept Mexico as favourites on neutral ground, but not in Johannesburg. No way! S Africa stay unbeaten in twelve friendly games and their Brazilian coach Parreira has built himself a nice little side, not great, but worth its place in the cup. They usually use a 4-2-3-1 formation with Mphela favoured upfront. Pienaar, Dikgacoi, Modise and Tshabalala are all very useful midfielders, Mokoena and M Booth run their defence with Masilela and Gaxa as wing backs.
Mexico have also played numerous friendlies. They have won eight of their twelve matches. Their two losses were against expected top sides England and Holland. How will their young strikers Dos Santos, C Vela and J Hernandez handle the almost insane atmosphere in the stadium? Or will veteran striker Franco be preferred to J Hernandez? Not many supporters in the world are making the kind of noise that the S Africans fans are known for and they say that it is almost impossible for the players to communicate in the stadium. At the end of the day I expect the home advantage to decide the outcome of this match. S Africa to win. Why not 1-0!
Uruguay $4.00 – France $2.20
I have to say that the odds on France tempt me but they have been poor lately. Well, when were they not poor under Domenech, but looking at their squad, I can easily get this idea that they will wake up now when it is getting really serious. Nowadays they play with a 4-3-3 formation, supposed to be more offensive. So far their poor finishing has let them down and I read in French media that this side has not scored a “proper” goal in their last five games. They have found the net a couple of times, but it has been miss-hits and freakish goals. They completely dominated their last match against China, but lost 0-1. Their midfield trio Toulalan, Gourcuff and Malouda have looked good together, but Anelka, Henry and the other strikers have so far gone astray. Against China Anelka was flanked by Ribery and Govou.
Uruguay rely on their established top strikers L Suarez and D Forlan in a 3-4-2-1 formation. They do not need that many chances to find the target, but they lack constructive midfielders in their team. Defender Lugano is their captain, a defence that is not the most disciplined around and Uruguay have a tradition of making it difficult for themselves. Maybe these are old truths, I am open for that. Still backing France.
Previews courtesy of Tip-Ex.
