World Cup Semi-Finals Odds Preview

They’re down to the Final Four at the World Cup in Brazil – Ricky Rothstein previews the semi-finals in Belo Horizonte and Sao Paolo!

Brazil v Germany
Belo Horizonte, 16:00 EST.

This is only the second time that Brazil and Germany have met in the World Cup. The winningest teams in the competition met only once before, in the World Cup final of 2002 which Brazil won to claim its record fifth title.

Things are a little different now. Ronaldo was Brazil’s great star in 2002, and he had help in Rivaldo and Ronaldinho. This year, Brazil has one star, Neymar, and he won’t be playing at Belo Horizonte, or in the final if Brazil gets that far. Neymar was a casualty of the Battle of Fortaleza when Columbia and Brazil kicked lumps out of each other, and his loss is a shattering blow indeed. Fred and Hulk have big boots to fill upfront, and Brazil has also lost its captain, Thiago Silva, to suspension.

Germany has no such problems. The German squad is so deep that there are long debates from Bavaria to Berlin about who should start ahead of whom. But those are happy debates to have, and the Germans will be confident of victory over the hosts.

Pick: Brazil is outmatched in so many positions, it’s impossible to look past a German win at 2.37.

Argentina v Netherlands
Sao Paolo, 16:00 EST.

The theme of the game between Argentina and the Netherlands on Wednesday is an age-old question: are Jims and Joes better than x’s and o’s?

Argentina is the team of Jims and Joes. Well; one Jim and Joe in particular. Lionel Messi is the best player in the world, the one criticism of whom was that he hadn’t delivered in the World Cup. Messi has knocked that on the head in Brazil. Not only that, but where the Argentinian team seemed intimidated by how great a talent Messi is in the early games, the game against Belgium saw many players rise to help the little man out.

The Netherlands can’t match Argentina in terms of star quality, but they are all fine footballers whose soccer tradition is as rich as Canada’s hockey tradition. It’s not the greatest Dutch team ever, but it is the one that’s playing most like a team, and that’s thanks to its manager, Louis Van Gaal.

Van Gaal has earned a lot of plaudits for his tactical adaptability, playing different formations to match the different challenges faced by the Dutch in different games, and now he needs to come up with another gameplan to shut down Messi. If he can do that, and finally lead the Netherlands to its first World Cup after falling three times at the final hurdle, he will never have to buy his own Heineken again.

Pick: Neither team wants to go to penalties, but they mightn’t have a choice. Both Argentina and the Netherlands have had a safety-first, don’t-screw-up approach and, if all things balance out, it’ll take more than ninety minutes to separate them. Draw at 3.25 is the pick.