the thread title said odds on

Good point. Think I saw it and read favourites. When I actually looked at the market I was horrified. I do think England should be favourites, something under 2/1 but odds on is horrendous.

I backed 0-0 and under 2.5 at 11 and 1.85 just as the Costa Rica game because it's in Salvador which is another of the very hot and humid places.

Then I looked at the previous two games there, and saw Spain 1 Holland 5 and Germany 4 Portugal 0 and got cold feet. I greened up and pleasingly the market had gone my way to 9.6 and 1.75.

Only actual bet I've had is Valbuena anytime @ 7.

Cheers, what are you on?

Some top aftertiming on this thread imo

clarky i posted on the horse racing forum pal

i suppose people that are familiar with you know that you don't after time and a lot of others are cynical with all the BS posted on this asylum.

Posted this a month ago

marychain1 15 May 14 17:21

Costa Rica probably can't beat Uruguay in typical South American conditions, or England in cooler conditions, but they may have an advantage against Italy in their second game, to be played in Recife.

England don't need to win though, do they?

Campbell may feel like he's playing for a major role at Arsenal.

Insane price on England.

Italy were 1.8 and drifting after just a few minutes of the game today. England are 1.88 now after two dire performances? Being knocked out is such a killer of atmosphere in the squad, by the same token whoever starts for Costa Rica, even if they rest a couple of players will be absolutely buzzing, dying to make an an impression. You'll get the same performance from Costa Rica again.

There is a massive prize for winning the group, it's a very winnable knock out game. Might be more value in the draw than the Costa Rica win but England should be about 2.6 for this one but patriotic money never learns its' lesson.

England will be resting players too and I wouldn't be basing a 1.88 shot on Jones' and Smalling's ability to keep a clean sheet.

Eng will prob win well now its a dead rubber..no pressure
win when its all too late..so dam typical

I've said it a few times but not completely, so here goes.

The games that were played in extremely hot and humid conditions in this group are (were)

England v Italy
Uruguay v Costa Rica
Italy v Costa Rica
Uruguay v Italy

The others are (were) played in cooler areas.

I assumed when I wrote up my preview back in mid-May that Uruguay and Costa Rica would be similarly suited by hot conditions and that neither side would have the advantage. That was clearly wrong. You could see by the way Uruguay ground to a halt after being 1-0 up at half-time that they really struggled with the heat and humidity. Costa Rica are the one team (probably in the tournament) who have a similar climate. They had far more energy than Uruguay. This surprised me, but then I heard Tim Vickery say that Uruguay have done all the preparation at home in cold conditions. I do not know why they did this, and find it surprising, but anyone that watched both games could see that Uruguay looked a different team v England.

Italy have had the worst of the draw. They strugled in the confed cup v Japan last summer and they have struggled in both games v England and especially Costa Rica. The Italians looked out on their feet to me. They could hardly get themselves above a trot.

The interesting thing will be the Italy v Uruguay game. Will Italy now be acclimatised after three games in hot places or will they be super-tired? I think the latter, and although the hot conditions will not suit Uruguay either, I think the momentum can carry them to a win.

Costa Rica v England is interesting because for the first time Costa Rica play in a place that does not give them an advantage over the opposition. I make England (slight) favourites for the game. Don't get me wrong, I'm not bigging up England, but Costa Rica should not be as superior to Uruguay and Italy as we saw without the advantage of the heat and humidity, and that is now not there.

My bets for this group was Uruguay to win at 2/1 and Italy to finish bottom at 16/1. I did not expect Costa Rica and Italy to win their first two games, I expected two draws, but the rest of the games have worked out roughly as I thought and I have not written my bets off yet. England and Uruguay both winning is possible.

Ah feck it, there's no point bothering to try and have a discussion on this forum.