World Cup
2010-07-02 - Uruguay vs Ghana
A Sports Betting Pick by Niko
Football : FIFA World Cup 2010 : Quarter Final
Friday, 2nd July 2010 – kickoff 20:30
Uruguay
Uruguay deserved their place in the quarter-finals by finishing first in their group A with seven points and beating South Korea 2-1 in the Round of 16 which was not a surprise. This is a huge success for Uruguay national team who were waiting for forty years to reach the quarter-finals again.
An interesting fact is that only two players out of the whole squad of 23 players play in the domestic championship. This was pointed by the coach Oscar Tabarez as one of the reasons for their success, saying that his players gained massive experience and more skills playing in the European leagues and that had strengthened the national team a lot.
The Uruguayan side has played nice football so far and what is also important is that they have conceded only once in all of their four matches so far, which shows that not only they have great strikers in Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez but their defensive line is also very tight and functioned perfectly in their previous matches.
However, there is one big worry in the defensive line ahead of the match against Ghana with the injury of the central defender Diego Godin who pulled his leg muscle in the match against South Korea and probably he will miss this important match. There are very slim chances that he might get fit, but that is highly unlikely according to the last reports.
The team will once again will play in formation with four players in the back line, three midfielders, one offensive midfielder (either Diego Perez or Ignacio González) right behind the two strikers - Forlan and Suarez.
A very interesting fact is that in the last seven matches in which Luis Suarez has scored Uruguay have won five and drew two times, so if Suarez has his day once again Uruguay should be very close to victory.
Ghana
Ghana reached the quarter-finals and repeated the success of Cameroon and Senegal who were the only two previous African sides to reach the quarter-finals at a World Cup.
They beat USA in the adrenalin rushed first half performance, when they opened the score and kept attacking, but their form rapidly slowed in the second half and in the extra time when they were holding the ball and defended tight in order to reach their goal for progressing further.
This is a big success for this young team and not many people (if any) expected that they will go this far at the tournament. The team is hyped up, they have the African support but i think that they are a bit carried away with their success and that is a big chance for Uruguay to use it in own advantage.
Samuel Inkoom even said that Ghana could be the first African side to win the World Cup but i think that that is way too unrealistic thinking at the moment.
Ghana has many injured and suspended players for this match. Defender Jonathan Mensah is out because of yellow cards suspension, the midfielder Andre Ayew who is one of the top players in the squad, will be also suspended for this match for picking up his second yellow card in the match against USA and his place will be probably filled with Sulley Muntari.
The midfielder Kevin-Prince Boateng who scored against the Americans, is also very doubtful with pulled muscle injury and was substituted in the last match. A major scare was the ankle injury of the top striker Asamoah Gyan which he had picked up at training, but according to his words he will be up and ready to play against Uruguay. John Mensah is still recovering and not fully match fit.
The Betting Verdict
This will be a clash of two different styles of playing, but i give advantage to the South Americans.
Uruguay are a very good side, well organized in the back and in the midfield and have two dangerous strikers. They will miss only one defensive player, unlike Ghana who have several key players absent for this match.
Ghana did a great job so far, they achieved huge success and they play very fast football, but it seems that they get worn out quickly. I think that Uruguay will play patiently waiting for their chances and will find a way to win this match.
The Pick :
Uruguay 2-1 Ghana
