Good living is not something that Italy can claim today. The FIFA World Cup Champions have fallen far quickly. First they get throttled by the Netherlands 3-1 and now today they are lucky to escape with a tie against Romania. Luca Toni might be enjoying the joys of Schlitz sooner rather than later.
The Hotline is not nearly as desperate as Italy. The predictions came through correctly on 3 out of the last 4 selections, bringing out blogging total above a .500 success rate for the first time. Many thanks go out to Tim Donaghy for his never ending support.
The bizarre news story of the day has to be the outrage over yesterday's Austrian tie in the final moments against Poland. The outrage isn't only coming from drunk Polska fans, but also from the Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk. After his dear Poland team had a controversial penalty called against them by English referee Howard Webb, Prime Minister Tusk declared that he was so angry he wanted to kill the English ref. Perhaps it is not surprising that now Scotland Yard is providing protection for the English ref, Ireland rejected the European Union constitution, and Belgium invaded Luxembourg. Pandemonium.
Stephen J. Avillo today declared that he was so ashamed of the Italian performance that he was deleting the final vowel from his last name. "I'm so ashamed that I'm deleting the final vowel from my last name", said Avill. In a related note, Otter managed to inject two silent "J"s into his last name to commemorate this day of significant dutch gambling returns.
Saturday, June 14:
Spain v. Sweden
- It is too early to crown Netherlands the champion of this tournament. There are still a couple of other capable teams that cannot be counted out. One of those teams is Spain. Their short passing game and comfort controlling the run of play at all times makes them a favorite.
- Sweden comes off an excellent win over a disappointing Greece team, but they are generally old - other than Inter Milan's superstar forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
- Expecting Sweden to stop Spain is like asking Dick Bevetta to call fouls on Kobe Bryant in Game 6. Sweden will put up a good fight, but the final will be Spain 3, Sweden 1.
- Take Spain and the over (2.5).
Greece v. Russia
- Some in the Hotline may remember Roman Pavluchenko's steroid induced late goal against Spain after being belittled by Vladimir Putin. Unfortunatley for Russia, this inspired performance won't be repeated against Greece since Pavluchenko injured himself during practice.
- No matter - this game was not meant for goal scoring anyway. Russia does not have a great playmaker, and Greece doesn't have a pulse. Together they might be able to pull together 2 penalty kick goals and end up tied at 1 apiece. That's your Hotline prediction: Russia 1 - Greece 1.
- Take the Tie and the under (2.5).
It's the weekend so there are no excuses for not watching these games closely. Although the Hotline has pulled above .500, this is only the beginning. Stay tuned.
1 comment:
Kudos for the prediction of the Spain game. Had a whistle not been swallowed on the obvious penalty at the end of the first half, Spain would've indeed had a 3-1 win.
As for Greece, I've seen all I need to, and all I can stand. I think even if they were awarded a penalty (and that would difficult to accomplish considering they prefer to play inside the comfy confines of their own penalty area) they would find a way to squander it. I thankfully didn't read this post before I took Russia -.5 and (of course) the under.
Can't wait for tomorrow. I think Portugal may have an uninspired draw at 1-1 and I like the Czechs to get past the Turks, probably 2-1.
Does anyone else think Avillo seems strangely old
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