Tuesday's [11/15] Ninja Plays

[EaglesPhan36]

[ASIA World Cup Qualifier] Thailand +1/+1.5 [+102]
Australia needs just a draw to guarantee advancement to the next round from this group in their final two matches, so it seems the importance of the match may not be huge for the Aussies. They come in off a flat performance in a 1-0 loss to Oman. Thailand are still in the hunt for 2nd with four points, just one behind the Saudis who face Oman. A draw would technically keep the Thais alive, while a win would position them for an improbable shot to advance in the last match. Australia beat Thailand narrowly 2-1 in the 1st meeting with a late goal. At home, I think the Thais will put forth a solid effort here. The Aussies could simply look to get their point for advancement today.

[EaglesPhan36]

[ASIA World Cup Qualifier] Lebanon +1.5/2 [-136]
Big test for the home side and the visitors, South Korea today. Lebanon is not the same team that South Korea saw two months ago and beat at home, 6-0. Since then, the Lebanese have become the surprise outfit in this group under Theo Booker with wins over UAE at home, Kuwait on the road and a home draw vs. Kuwait. South Korea meanwhile have been able to get a result in their three matches, but haven't looked dominant. They struggled to a 1-1 road draw with Kuwait and waited until very late against UAE on the road last time out to snatch two goals and take the full three points. Lebanon find themselves in 2nd position in the group and getting a result today would give them a shot to qualify in the final match against bottom feeding UAE. South Korea is without their captain today and are making changes to a stagnant attack. Their recent history in the Middle East indicates that Lebanon at least have a chance to keep this match close today. Not sure Lebanon gets a result, but I think they can definitely stay within a goal or two based on their recent solid play.

[EaglesPhan36]

[UEFA U-21] Bulgaria PK [-110]
Bulgarians are in 3rd position in this group and they really need a win to keep pace with Scotland for 2nd. The Scots got a big win over the Dutch on Monday that sees them now one point ahead of Bulgaria. The Bulgarians have netted positive results in each of their last three in this group after dropping their 1st match to the Dutch. That includes a 2-0 win over the same Austrian side on the road. At home today, I think at worst they earn a draw and should be pushing for a win.

[southpaw74]

Looking good so far!! Nice write ups to

[EaglesPhan36]

Damn I think Lebanon was close to like +1000 on the ML for this one. Might end up a draw in the next 20 minutes, but damn what a nice shot at that huge price if they hold on.

[SlowNsteady]

[UEFA U-21] Bulgaria PK [-110]
Bulgarians are in 3rd position in this group and they really need a win to keep pace with Scotland for 2nd. The Scots got a big win over the Dutch on Monday that sees them now one point ahead of Bulgaria. The Bulgarians have netted positive results in each of their last three in this group after dropping their 1st match to the Dutch. That includes a 2-0 win over the same Austrian side on the road. At home today, I think at worst they earn a draw and should be pushing for a win.

[EaglesPhan36]

Watermelons?

[serc]

I like over in Bulgaria game. Good luck

[SlowNsteady]

The closest pic I could find to a Bulgarian Ninja. I believe she will help bring home a victory???

[escou]

Haha no ninjas in Bulgaria only girls with watermelons

[EaglesPhan36]

Sweet. Hopefully we can keep the good things going.

[justin81]

For those interested, tonite friendly Poland-Hungary 2@4.5 or Hungary DNB@3.25 or X2@1.83
Poland is playing home against Hungary tonight as another friendly-preparation game for Euro2012 which Poland will be a co-host. Poland lost on Friday to Italy at home 0:2 with no style whatsoever, playing with the strongest 11 possible. Italy controlled the game from the beginning, Poland couldn't even score at the end from the penalty spot as a consolation goal. Tonight Polish coach will field a second string of players, only keeping 2 players from the Friday's eleven (Błaszczykowski and Polański). He wants to give a chance to those who didn't have much of playing time, however, these are not 1st choice players except those 2 mentioned before. Probable 1st 11:
Łukasz Fabiański - Grzegorz Wojtkowiak, Marcin Wasilewski, Arkadiusz Głowacki, Marcin Komorowski - Jakub Błaszczykowski, Dariusz Dudka, Adam Matuszczyk, Eugen Polanski, Maciej Rybus - Paweł Brożek.
Only Błaszczykowski,Polański and Dudka and Wasilewski (if not injured) seem to be 1st choice players, although Komorowski and Rybus (both playing for Legia Warsaw, recently are in great form, they developed enormously from the last season)
Additionally, Poland has a terrible record against Hungary (31 games played, only 7 wins, 4 draws and 20 lost). The stadium tonight won't be even half-full (so far just ~7,000 tickets sold of 42,000 possible) due to the conflict between fans and Polish FA for removing a Polish national emblem from the new official Euro 2012 jerseys and substituting it with Polish FA logo. So Polish players cannot expect any kind of support.
From what I've read in the newspaper Hungarian coach will put the strongest 11 possible with their star Dzsudzsak. Although Hungary didn't even qualify to Euro2012, they improved dramatically, and they were able to collect 19 points in their qualification group with tough opponents such as Holland and Sweden. They ended up 3rd in the group. And I watched them play Friday as well against Lichtenstein. Easy win 5:0. They are playing solid football recently.
To sum it up:
3 major cons against Poland win:
1) B team
2) conflict between players/coach/polish fa vs fans
3) bad record against Hungary (7-4-20)

Pros for good Hungary result:
1) A team
2) good recent results

[EaglesPhan36]

[UEFA U-21] Cyprus-Germany Over 3.5 [-109]
Germany is simply playing to maintain their perfect record as they are far and beyond ahead in this group. 28 goals in six matches. They did show some chinks in the armor though allowing four to Greece last time. Cyprus will be buoyed by their win over Bosnia last time at home, but they have allowed 15 goals - including four to the Germans the first time. Cyprus needs a win to maintain any small hope of keeping alive in this competition, so expect them to work hard today and Germany should as well.

[EaglesPhan36]

No harm with Bulgaria. Settled for the draw after giving up a late goal, so bet pushes.

[EaglesPhan36]

Maybe I should stick to sides. Totals have been killing me lately. This U-21 match is pretty void of great scoring opps. No chance in hell they get three more in 25 minutes.

[EaglesPhan36]

[Euro 2012 Qualifier] Estonia Team Total Under 0.5 [-123]
Ireland is all but through after crushing Estonia 4-0 in the 1st leg on the road. It is perhaps a tad misleading since Estonia picked up two red cards, but the Irish had established some control even before the 1st card with an early 1-0 load. This Match could certainly be dull with them not needing to do anything really. Still, I have the feeling the match will be more of a celebration and completion of the task. The Irish have held five of their last six in this competition without a goal. Even if Ireland doesn't push much to win this match, I think from a pride standpoint they will be looking to at the least keep a clean sheet to celebrate their advancement on home soil.

[southpaw74]

Germany just teased us. I guess 4 is slot of goals to need

[donkey_rollers]

nah estonia will score atleast 2 goals,estonia played 1 man less.Today is way different day

[EaglesPhan36]

Germany just teased us. I guess 4 is slot of goals to need

Yeah that was a nice with if you had them on the handicap though. Some great late magic.

[EaglesPhan36]

Uno mas ..

[South America World Cup Qualifying] Colombia +0.5 [-118]
Could not pass the opportunity up here. Argentina is still struggling in this competition. They are tied with Colombia in 2nd behind Uruguay in this group, but Colombia has played one less match. Colombia have two positive results with a draw against Venezuela at home and a road win at Bolivia. The Argies meanwhile have struggled since beating Chile at home. They lost on the road to Venezuela and had to fight hard at home last time to get a point from Bolivia. Colombia obviously do not have the individual talent of Argentina here, but have a good team concept that helped hold this Argentinia side to a scoreless draw in the Summer at the Copa America competition. Argentina may flip the switch on at some point and come together, but on the road here against a tough Colombia side - I think both teams would be okay with the draw and Colombia certainly may be able to sneak out all three points if Argentina remains unorganized.

[EaglesPhan36]

Figures. Argies figure out how to score a couple today. Bleh.

[latinrus]

Figures. Argies figure out how to score a couple today. Bleh.

The first one in fact was a horrible mistake of the keeper! That was his ball and he just didn't catch it and Argentina scored!

2nd one was kind of fair!