Dutch, Spain both eye history-making victory

Soccer Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - History will be made at Soccer City on Sunday in the final of the FIFA World Cup as either the Netherlands or Spain will claim its first-ever World Cup title.

One of the two sides will become the eighth nation to win a World Cup, and while the Dutch have appeared in the finals on two other occasions, in 1974 and 1978, this is uncharted territory for Spain.

"We haven't achieved anything like this before but this team deserves everything that comes our way," said Spain striker David Villa. "It's not easy to get this far but we're hungry for more and we couldn't be happier at reaching the final. That's what we came here for and now we want to go out and win it."

This will be the second big final for Spain in two years as it beat Germany, 1-0, to win the Euro 2008 title, and as midfielder Xabi Alonso said, "if you reach the final, you want to go on and win it."

Spain has gotten to its first World Cup final with three successive 1-0 victories in the knockout stage, beating Portugal, Paraguay and Germany by the same scoreline.

The Dutch, meanwhile, have found the net seven times in their three knockout stage wins, beating Slovakia and Brazil, 2-1, before a 3-2 triumph over Uruguay in the semifinals.

"We're in the final - unbelievable," overjoyed Dutch manager Bert van Marwijk said following the semifinal win. "When I took this job two years ago, I said to the players, 'We're on a mission, and we just have to believe in ourselves.' We're only a small country but we're through to the final, that's just unbelievable. We last made the final 32 years ago, so what we've achieved is, and I'll say it again, unbelievable."

Wesley Sneijder has also been unbelievable as he has led the team with five goals this tournament, while getting some strong support from both Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt on the wings.

However, if the Dutch want to complete their mission, they had better be stronger in defense as they will face a high-powered Spanish attack.

Despite scoring only seven goals in six games so far, Spain has created countless scoring chances and has controlled most of its games with a big edge in possession.

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque will have one big decision to make up top, and that is whether to start the struggling Fernando Torres alongside Villa, or go with Pedro, who played well in his first start against Germany in the semifinals.

The Netherlands has the kind of players in Robben and Sneijder who could be effective on the counter attack, but if Spain is firing on all cylinders on Sunday, it is hard to see it losing.

The Spanish have given up just two goals all tournament, and midfielder Xavi believes that if they can duplicate their semifinal performance, that he likes their chances of bringing home the World Cup.

"Holland are a great team, they've got really strong players, especially from the midfield to the attack and they're on a great run of form," Xavi said. "But we have to play our football - if we play like we did in the semifinal, we have a great chance."

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Betting the NFL preseason

Rule No. 1 in the gamblers' handbook states, "Avoid sports betting on meaningless games."

When you're drowning in a sea of baseball monotony, however, things change. Even a hint of pro football betting can persuade the most disciplined bettor to break a few rules. 

The NFL preseason is around the corner, with a tempting Hall of Fame match kicking off on Sunday. But bettors must stay vigilant. Wagering on NFL exhibition games is an entirely different beast than the regular season. Most fans don't recognize the players on the field because starters get as much action in August as Warcraft fans get on Prom night.

The only certainty about the NFL this time of year is uncertainty – and yet there are some who say betting in August can be a gold mine.

“I actually feel the NFL preseason presents solid profit opportunities for sharp bettors and handicappers,” Sports Expert Steve Merril explains. “My experience has been that the sportsbooks fear the preseason, which is evident by lower limits and massive moves.”

The line moves are attributed to the limited knowledge available regarding playing-time distribution. One team’s top unit out on the field for one more series has an impact on the pointspread. Setting lines in the preseason often is a shot in the dark.

“We base the betting lines mostly on public perception,” Pete Korner, founder of the Sports Club in Las Vegas, says. “It’s very tough to predict, almost a guessing game.”

The preseason is all about figuring out who’s in and for how long.

“It becomes a race between bettors and oddsmakers to find out how long the quarterbacks are going to stay in,” Korner admits. “If a sharp gets the information first, he could exploit an early line. I’m a full believer in moving the line in the preseason if the books find out something late in the week.”

Determining what each team’s motive is can help bettors handicap. To do this you must pay close attention to the philosophies head coaches employ in exhibition play.

“You need to know what a coach is trying to accomplish,” says Covers Expert Bryan Leonard. “Sometimes a new coach will want to instill a winning attitude. Others just want to make sure their starters don’t get hurt."

So how do you distinguish who’s playing scared and who’s playing for keeps?

“Head coaches on the hot seat or new coaches trying to implement a winning attitude usually try harder to win in the preseason,” Merril says.

Cleveland Browns head coach Romeo Crennel fits this criteria. He’s entering his third season as the sideline boss and has yet to lead the Browns to more than six wins.

Cleveland is an enticing bet as well because of the unresolved quarterback situation. General manager Phil Savage sacrificed the Browns’ first-round pick in next year’s draft for Brady Quinn, but the former Notre Dame quarterback hasn’t signed or reported to training camp yet.

Charlie Frye and Derek Anderson split time at QB last season and it looks like either player (or even Quinn) could be the opening-day starter.

“If a team has quarterback depth and the pecking order hasn’t been decided, it’s a big advantage,” Leonard says.

Even in the third week of the preseason when starters generally play the most, the final outcome of the game is in the hands of fringe players. A team's talent, all the way down to the last man on the roster, is something to consider.

The New England Patriots have long been considered one of the deeper teams in the NFL and coach Bill Belichick has said in the past he’s unafraid of stars getting hurt in games with nothing on the line. He shocked his colleagues in 2003 by playing some of his starters on special teams in the preseason.

“We want to have the team ready to play a tough, physical game and preparation has to go into that and I imagine a certain amount of injuries go with it,” Belichick told the Providence Journal in August 2003.

Bettors can only hope to find more teams that share the Pats' business-like approach to the preseason (New England is 17-9-3 against the spread since 2000) and take advantage of teams who detest the exhibition schedule.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on football needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.