BRAZIL - 11/4 to win cup (Total Bet) 2/7 to win group (Total Bet)
Current holders Brazil come into this years' World Cup as red hot favourites to retain the trophy that they won in Japan four years ago. The last time this feat was achieved was by Brazil in 1962, the only other team to retain the Jules Rimet trophy was Italy back in the 1930's. Brazil booked their place in Germany after finishing top of the South American zone group, with no major slip ups to note. They played a friendly with Swiss club FC Luzern recently and hammered them 8-0.
In the last six World Cups Brazil have finished top of their allotted group, but they do have tendencies to look rather lacklustre at a start of the tournament. Cast your mind back to France 98 when Scotland nearly did the impossible over the elite force in football, but Brazil battled to a 2-1 victory. History dictates Brazil will finish on top of Group F, but there are some tricky teams in their group and I have a feeling in my water that Brazil will advance into the last sixteen as runners up. You can currently get odds of 4/1 with Sporting Odds.
The Brazilians have not won the World Cup on European soil since the 1958 World Cup in Sweden. Their record since then is runners up once, finished third once, and knocked out in the Second Round twice. You can never write off a team of Brazil's class, but the quarter-final stage is the first realistic opportunity of the Samba Boys getting ejected out of Germany, and with odds of 11/2 with Bet 365 it could well be worth a punt.
If you are going to have any money on a top scorer in this year's World Cup, you have plenty of options in the Brazil squad. The first name that springs up is Real Madrid striker Ronaldo. The 29 year old has scored 58 goals in 91 appearances and was the winner of the last Golden Boot in the Far East four years ago. He is currently priced at 11/1 along with his Inter Milan strike partner Adriano with Sporting Odds. World player of the year Ronaldinho is also within a shout to be top scorer this year with his ability at set pieces and capability of making an opportunity out of nothing. He is currently priced at 16/1 with Total Bet. Another player to look out for is Ronaldo's club mate Robinho. The young centre forward will most likely be a substitute for most of the tournament, but if an injury was to occur to either Ronaldo or Adriano, he will be the man to be drafted into the team. He is currently at 40/1 with Total Bet, which is well worth an each way bet.
My tip - Brazil to finish second with odds of 4/1 with Sporting Odds.
AUSTRALIA - 125/1 to win cup (
After years and years of trying, Australia have finally made it to the World Cup finals after beating Uruguay in the South America/Oceania playoff match on penalties. It was their fifth attempt in twenty years with Mark Schwarzer proving to be the deciding factor as he made two outstanding saves to deny their South American opposition a trip to Germany. John Aloisi scored the decisive penalty to ensure victory.
Gus Hiddink's team arrives in Germany with the worry of Harry Kewell not going to be fit for the opening stages of the tournament. The Liverpool player hobbled off in the FA Cup final against West Ham, and is having a race against time to be fit for the opening fixture. Another huge concern is the lack of depth in the Socceroos defence. They have only named six defenders in their squad. Two of them are vastly inexperienced and Newcastle's Craig Moore has been struggling with fitness all season.
Hiddink will be hoping for experienced striker Mark Viduka fire the Aussies into the knockout stages, the rotund Middlesbrough striker has been on fine form since the turn of the year with his goals provided to be the catalyst for his club's march to the final of the UEFA cup. Viduka is currently 150/1 with
The Australian mentality in sport is "win, no matter how" and they will not give up any match without a fight. The whole nation has got behind the team after setbacks in Rugby Union and Cricket in recent years and the Socceroos is a new avenue for the sport hungry fans to back. For their tremendous attitude to any competition, I can see them easily over powering Japan and give Croatia and Brazil a tough time. Infact the last time Australia and Brazil met, the men from Down under won 1-0 in the Confederations Cup. So I predict Australia to be knocked out of the second round at 5/2 with
My tip - Australia to shock the world and finish top of Group F at 12/1 with Victor Chandler.
CROATIA - 66/1 to win cup (Coral) 6/1 to win group (
Croatia booked their passage to Germany after an unbeaten run of ten games and finishing top of Group 8, edging out red hot favourites Sweden to second place. This is the Croats third appearance in the World Cup in a row since their independence from Yugoslavia. The Balkan team have had a fantastic friendly campaign so far after beating Argentina and Austria and an exciting 2-2 draw with Iran.
The Croats are a very industrious team and create a lot of goals, but do tend to leak in a few goals at the same time so they are a very hard team to predict. Take the last World cup for example. They managed to beat Italy but they suffered defeats from Mexico and Ecuador which cost them a passage to the knockout rounds. If they play up to their abilities in the next coming weeks they could easily make the Quarter Finals, if they get knocked out then you can get odds of 13/2.
Rangers lanky striker Dado Prso will be leading the charge for the Croats. Prso made a name for himself at Euro 2004 when they were beaten 4-2 by England, but Prso had Rio Ferdinand at sixes and sevens with his strength, height and pace. He is currently priced at 100/1 with Sporting Odds, as his is strike partner Klasnic with the same company.
My tip - The Croats are really unpredictable so I am not touching them with a barge pole!
JAPAN - 300/1 to win (Bet 365) 16/1 to win group (
The team from the land of the rising sun are still glowing from the success of the previous tournament in their home land. They managed to reach the knockout stages for the first time in their history, but were dumped out of the competition by Turkey 1-0. Japan finished top of their qualifying group after edging out Iran in group two. Japan almost embarrassed the hosts on their own turf when they took a 2-0 lead over Germany this past week in a friendly, but Germany battled back to level the game 2-2.
Japan has two main problems. Firstly the lack of quality up front and the inability to keep hold of a clean sheet. I believe their performance four years ago was an anomaly, and will go back to being perennial pushovers in the World Cup. I would advise keep your money in your pockets if it comes across your mind to back Japan, but you can get odds of 16/1 for them to reach the Quarter Finals with Sporting Odds if you are having a moment of madness.
My tip - stay well away, unless you are ploughing a load of money on them coming last at 17/20 with Sporting Odds.
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