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09/14/2007 - Hangzhou, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Canada and Ghana are both coming off losses in their opening match, and a win is a must for either team if they are to hold out hope of advancing into the quarterfinals.
Canada took a 1-0 lead into halftime against Group C favorites Norway, but yielded a pair of second-half goals in the loss. Ghana was overmatched against Australia and suffered a 4-1 defeat, leaving plenty of room for improvement.
The Canada side that showed up in the first half was what many people expected to see. The North Americans worked their long-ball attack and applied constant pressure to a strong Norway defense. Striker Christine Sinclair displayed why she is such a dangerous weapon as she set up Canada's goal, and the team looked confident as they outplayed the favored Norwegians.
However, a different Canada team came out for the second half. They were passive and allowed Norway to dictate the pace of the game. Canada sat back and let Norway spend the majority of the half in the offensive third of the field, and despite the efforts of keeper Erin McLeod, they conceded two goals.
Against Ghana, Canada will have an easier time maintaining its attack and should be able to drop long balls over the top for Sinclair to run with. The star striker and team captain was a non-factor in the second half of the Norway game, and that needs to change in Canada is going to go anywhere in this competition.
McLeod proved that she is an asset between the posts, and although Canada's effort came up short, they proved that they can play with the world's top teams. Canada should be able to get past Ghana, which would set up a huge contest against Australia on the final day.
Ghana has never advanced past the group stage, and if Wednesday's game against Australia is any indication, that streak will not be broken this year. Ghana, which is the lowest ranked team in the tournament at 47th in the FIFA rankings, looked slow against Australia and they were never able to put together a consistent spell of play.
Team captain Adjoa Bayor failed to make any impact on the match at all, which severely hurt Ghana's chances of winning. Bayor is the playmaker that makes the Black Queens attack work, but without her creativity in the middle of the pitch, Ghana's offense sputtered.
The lone bright spot for Ghana came in the form of striker Anita Amankwa, who scored the team's goal and was able to get in behind the defense on a number of occasions.
However, Amankwa got little help, which is something she will need if Ghana is to have any chance at taking even a point from Canada.
Ghana's attack is nowhere near as potent as Norway's and they will have quite a struggle to crack the strong Canadian defense. Expect Sinclair to find the ball at her feet much more for Canada, and the Ghana defense to have a tough time stopping her.
A big result is what Canada needs to get back on track, and they certainly have the ability to do so against an outclassed Ghana side.
<< Rams CB Hill to miss Sunday's game against 49ers
St. Louis, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - St. Louis Rams head coach Scott Linehan
announced that starting cornerback Tye Hill will miss Sunday's game against
San Francisco after hurting his lower back in practice on Thursday.
Hill, the 15t
<< Simpson named suspect in casino robbery
Las Vegas, NV (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Las Vegas police questioned former football
star O.J. Simpson and declared him a suspect Friday in a hotel room
armed robbery, involving sports memorabilia at The Palace Station Casino.
The form
<< Woods fires 63; leads Tour Championship by three
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tiger Woods used a stellar front nine Friday to
grab the lead after two rounds of the Tour Championship.
Woods completed his opening-round 64 earlier Friday, then came back with a
vengeance in the second
<< Marlins activate Pinto
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Florida Marlins activated left-hander
Renyel Pinto from the 15-day disabled list Friday.
Pinto, who is 2-4 with a 4.10 ERA and one save in 49 relief appearances this
season, has been on the DL since
Norway, Australia to battle for Group C lead >>
Hangzhou, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The top spot in Group C will be on the
line on Saturday when Australia meets Norway in the second game for both
teams.
Norway earned a tough 2-1 comeback win against Canada, while Austral
Hosts China, Brazil look to lock up berth in quarters >>
Wuhan, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - China opened its World Cup with a dramatic win
over Denmark and would all but lock up a spot in the quarterfinals with a win
or a tie against Brazil on Saturday.
China built a two-goal lead against Denmark i
United acquires Monteiro from Fire >>
Washington, D.C. (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - D.C. United announced Friday the club has
acquired Jerson Monteiro from the Chicago Fire in exchange for a conditional
2008 MLS SuperDraft pick. Uniteds roster included an open developmental spot
for the
Farfan could make season debut vs. Vitesse >>
Eindhoven, Holland (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Three-time defending Eredivisie
champions PSV Eindhoven could get a extra boost of energy on Saturday when it
plays Vitesse at Philips Stadium.
Jefferson Farfan, who has missed all season due
In any football or basketball game (the main sports that use point spreads) there are two teams playing against each other.
Those teams, though, are rarely exactly evenly matched – meaning that typically one team has a better chance than the other to win the game. If bettors were allowed to bet on who was simply going to win the game, smart ones would obviously bet on the better team (likely winning more than 50% of the time in the process).
If winning were that easy the Las Vegas and online sportsbooks would stop taking any bets! This is where the point spread comes in: the basic function of the point spread is to balance the likelihood of each team “winning” by adjusting the final score by the point spread. After this adjustment is made you get the Against The Spread result (ATS result for short).
Let’s look at Super Bowl XXXIX, New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles. Most people believed the defending champ Patriots to be the better team – so if betting were simply based upon which team would win the game, an uneven majority of people would have wagered on New England. But, by using the point spread, the bookmakers adjusted the terms of the bet, evening the proposition so about half the people believed the Pats to be the smart bet, while the other half considered Philly to be the smart bet.
New England Patriots -7 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
The better team, called the Favorite, is expected to win the game and must “give” or “lay” points to the weaker team. The favorite is listed with a minus sign and the number of points they are favored by (e.g., New England -7)
In the case of our example, New England must not only win the game, but they must win by more than 7 points for Pats bettors to have a winning ATS result. An Eagles bettor wins his bet either if:
There was also the possibility that the final score could land exactly on the spread number (for example, the Pats winning 28-21 when -7), which is called a “push” or “no action” and a refund is then issued to bettors of both teams.
The same game with the same point spread can be considered from the weaker team’s perspective: The Underdog (Philly in the case of our example) is not expected to win the game and online football betting thus receives or “gets” points given by the stronger team. When a game is stated from the underdog’s perspective the team is listed with a plus sign and the number of points they are underdogs by:
Philadelphia Eagles +7 vs. New England Patriots
Keep in mind that Philadelphia +7 and New England -7 is the same point spread on the same game, simply stated differently. The first is from the underdog’s perspective; the later is from the favorite’s.
Not a must, but for some a mathematical approach is insightful. You can determine the ATS winner by either:
Let’s look at the actual result of Super Bowl XXXIX: New England 24 Philadelphia 21
The favorite, New England, won the game but not by more than the point spread they were favored by (7), so the ATS result was a LOSS for Pats bettors.
Looking at it from the underdog’s perspective, Philly did not win the game, but they lost by less than the point spread (7), so the ATS result was a WIN for Eagle bettors.
Mathematically considered, 24 for the favorite Pats minus 7 equals 17, which is less than the 20 the Eagles scored, so the underdog Eagles win the ATS result (or you could figure 20 plus 7 equals 27 for the Eagles, which is more than 24 for the Pats).
Emily’s boyfriend understood the point spread and wagered $100 on the Eagles at +7. The Eagles may not have gotten a Super Bowl ring, but since they won the ATS result Emily’s boyfriend cashed his bet – giving him money to take her out to a nice dinner.
And now hopefully you understand how to read point spreads, putting you one step closer to joining the fun of sports betting.
To visit this internet sportsbook go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting and World Series odds.
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