Wasn't meant to be a dig at spyker.... a great bet, like I said. Don't disagree with that.

Just funny how some people are oblivious to anything going on outside of the so-called "best league in the world"

* bebe

Think Luiz is out of the running though!

I thought Col would do this to them and they bloody should have!

dont forget about the little genius ,if messi makes the final ,am sorry win or lose he will get it ,simple he's a good image for fifa ,and he's well known so a good poster boy for fifa ,and yes am on messi top scorer and the argies outright plus the double ,so if the argies go out tomorrow ,i do hope ur bet comes good

Spyker

You've had a lucky escape in one sense tonight with the germans scoring 7 and muller only getting one of them, but in another sense you've had a bit of a nightmare because the thing you was worried about...happened, and that was a "big event", if the argies win it then messi will get the golden ball, but now you've also got the prospect of if germany win it it's highly likely that muller will win it, because aside from scoring at least 5 goals the powers that be and journos would feel justified in marking the historical performance we saw tonight with as many plaudits as possible.

For your bet you wanted a few more non event games (relatively speaking) but you got a game that provided one of the greatest stories of all time!!!!

Badly need the dutch to win it now I think.

If you'd of said before the semis '1 of these will end 7-1 do you want to trade out of all the bet' I prob would have so in that sense I've had a lucky escape. Germany won as much for brazil being carp (and official fifa report says as much) but yes if Muller gets a couple in final (assuming Arg don't get there) then yes it would look dodgy. I've kind of accepted that the bet will lose as like i said i thought on elimination it would be pretty dead but all hope is not lost yet!

Agree to a certain degree, but Messi has hardly been outstanding against Bosnia, Iran, Nigeria and the swiss, likewise with Muller. I think whichever way anyone looks at it Rodriguez has been the better and most consistent player who has really shone. Depends a lot if voters want to give it to Messi who is apparently the 'best player in the world' or someone who is far less known worldwide.

not really sure how you can say what a "real price" is considering nobody knows exactly who is voting and how many actually have a vote.  I always find markets like this impossible to predict price wise, it's just guessing to me.  I understand some may see it different but its not something I could ever get involved in betting wise.

Having said that I have enjoyed this thread and although Rodriguez has been brilliant this tournie, I am still cheering him on based purely on this thread and the well thought out reasoning behind.  Hope it cops for you spyker

If I had to vote after 90 minutes on man of the match for Holland vs Argentina, I would be looking for "none of the above".
Rodriguez still alive here.

yup spikey..but both runners muller and messy are in the finalo...gl pal.

All hope is not lost, certainly not, there's also another line of thought though on a negative side of things that may be taken into account, and that is the fact that brazil have been poor through-out but with all their faults that were present against colombia, certainly in the 2nd half....still saw off a decent colombia side that included Rodriguez but then went on to get obliterated by a germany side that were able to expose all their frailties that rodriguez et al couldn't do previously....with hindsight that may count against him to a degree.

sadly, a well reasoned analysis. let's hope the voters are too old and thick to use this line.

Can't believe Messi is 11/8 fav for it. I know he's scored 4 goals, but they were all in group games against sub standard opposition and wasn't like he even played well..

If he scores a wonder goal in the first half of the final that will stick in voters minds I would think, along with 2 other good goals from him. Rodriguez has pished all over him but got knocked out early, with probably the goal of the tournament and also the dink over the keeper that if Messi or Neymar done it it would have been on sky sports for a week and at the start of every fixture after.

That's half the battle - do they want a 'lesser' player to win it who got knocked out in the quarters or their 'best player in the world'?

I slightly disagree about Muller having done little. Don't get me wrong, I was delighted to see him only manage 1/7th of the German's goals(!) but he seemed to be thereabouts on all the others too and somebody will be given more credit than they ought to - Muller would be easy choice imo, although personally I'd say Neuer is their best player. I think you were being a bit dismissive of him in your post on the other thread, although I take your point about keepers.

I'm more into Hamez for top scorer than the Golden Ball anyway, but I've kept him as my best winner in that market too.

I should have said I don't see Neuer winning it either, but I have it between Messi, our boy, and take your pick from Muller or Neuer, with the former seeming much the likeliest. Of course I don't think Germany are there because of Neuer, and I'd be disappointed if he won too, but the lack of credible candidates has to be in his favour. I mean Messi is sub-6/4 ffs - I love him but he'd be winning it on reputation, not performance. That said, if my bets are to be scuppered, I hope he smashes 3 past Neuer!

*note.

ffs.

Then he wins the golden boot and it would be rude to give him both so...........

MH - he is all of ours - well unless he wins and them he's mine allll mine! That horse is a nr so nobody loses - worth sticking in your notebook for the future.

Today's the day.......

It appears they the voting now no longer includes the media and is done soley by the Fifa Tech Advisory group - the same people that came up with the shortlist (and Di maria!). The blurb has gone from the previously posted:

The Golden Ball will go to the competition’s best player. FIFA will announce a shortlist of ten players after the semi-finals. Members of the media and the Technical Study Group of FIFA will decide on the winner until the end of the Final (50/50).

to:

The Golden Ball will go to the competition’s best player. FIFA will announce a shortlist of ten players after the semi-finals. The Technical Study Group of FIFA will decide on the winner until the end of the Final. The players who finish second and third will receive the adidas Silver Ball and adidas Bronze Ball respectively.
Presented to the outstanding player at each FIFA World Cup™ since 1982, the adidas Golden Ball award has always highlighted truly exceptional players.  The Technical Study Group of FIFA will decide on the winner until the end of the Final

Either way performances in the final will count so in theory there is no 'Zidane' again. The most likely scenario i see is not a good 1 for the bets but heyho - Muller to score a goal and win golden boot and Germany the wc and messi to put in a solid enough performance for FIFA to give it to him as consolation but mainly because nobody would really mind (esp at FIFA!).
It's been a great ride whatever happens, profit made and James has performed above and beyond and will prob now go one to be the next megastar - well as long as he isn't kicked off the pitch anyhow! Good luck with your bets today and here's hoping for a boring 0-0 and as i said on another thread no memorable incidents other than Messi and Muller running into eachother in the 3rd minute and knocking eachother out!

Scored some gems and is an exciting player. I don't get why they called him Hamas, bit rude isn't it.