Are soccer players made of glass? Seriously, it’s the World Cup! It happens less often than the Olympics and few men have ever worn that World Champion Crown. You would think that it would take being tasered and dragged off the pitch as the only way any player would miss this due to injury. And yet, here we are just days away from the World Cup and the number of injuries to key players is getting downright ridiculous. Especially from a betting standpoint, it’s throwing everything a little off for me and my system for World Cup Betting. Take the England versus United States World Cup match for example, key injuries in that match to striker Jozy Altidore who sprained his ankle last week, make the USA underdog less attractive. But hold on, Rio Ferdinand suffered a knee ligament injury that will have miss the entire tournament, and suddenly I’m eyeing that underdog pick again.
These injuries are whack and their throwing everything off for me. Ghana, my dark horse, sleeper pick, their going to be without Essien, the heart and soul of that team. I still have the Ghanaians as my Cinderella but I’m not as confident in it anymore by any stretch.
Here I am thinking these injuries are bad for me and my betting system, I can’t imagine how these coaches are making all of these last minute adjustments to their lineups with any confidence. This is the type of tournament where a savvy coach with a few subtle adjustments can make his team the surprise team of the tournament. One such coach is Italy’s Marcelo Lippi, who’s not concerned at all that his defending champion Azzuri side isn’t among the favorites. Read more.
I know that when I say the amount of injuries is ridiculous, the average and casual soccer fan will take that as me being a sensationalist, or exaggerating the situation, and that’s fine, most times, I am, but not in this instance. Don’t believe me? Check the Injury Report.
Ridiculous is about right. You can’t even call the group of death deadly anymore. At the same time, in a strange and surely stupid way, I kind of like the fact that the tournament won’t be stat quo. Injuries have skewed everything, even the odds on some books, it should be interesting to see how it all plays out. You really earn your keep when you’re winning bets after adjusting for injuries.
