Hopefully, we’re not ‘Putin’ our foot in it, but this Confederations Cup has passed pretty much without incident off the pitch and the action on the field has been actually been quite decent.
Germany and Mexico square off in a Sochi semi-final for the right to join Chile in the decider and like a good Kremlin agent we’ve gone deep undercover in the markets to bring you three tremendous wagers on the game.
LILLE, FRANCE – JUNE 12: Joachim Loew, head coach of Germany gestures during the UEFA EURO 2016 Group C match between Germany and Ukraine at Stade Pierre-Mauroy on June 12, 2016 in Lille, France. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images)
Germany and Mexico to draw with both teams scoring – 10/3
Just like a bad Hollywood party, most of Germany’s marque stars have decided to give this one a skip and yet – like a well-oiled machine – they find themselves one game away from the final.
Mexico have scratched, clawed and quite literally battled their way through the group to get here and it could be a fiery affair.
Both sides have been as fragile as Russia’s relationship with the US at the back, conceding in every game so far. We expect more of same tonight.
As we saw with Chile and Portugal last night, teams tend to look for penalties if they are level with the clock ticking down. So we’re tipping a draw after 90 minutes with both teams finding the net.
That will go down as smoothly as Russia vodka if it lands at 10/3 for us later.
Lars Stindl to score first – 5/1
Never heard of him? Let us introduce you to the Borussia Mönchengladbach striker.
The 28-year-old is a rookie on the international scene after making his debut in a friendly against Denmark at the start of the month, but he’s proved to be something of a late bloomer at this tournament.
Stindl netted his first international goal in Germany’s opener against Australia and repeated the trick three days later against finalists Chile. He was rested with qualification assured against Cameroon and is primed for a fresh assault on the Mexicans tonight.
The new German star will have one eye on the golden boot award and having already landed the first goal in one of his two Confederations Cup appearances, he’s our choice to break the deadlock at 5/1.
Germany to advance on penalties – 11/1
It’s their most annoying/greatest trait depending on what side of the fence you’re on, but the fact remains the German’s haven’t lost a competitive penalty shootout in over 40 years.
Czechoslovakia remain the only team to beat them in football’s great tiebreaker and was back in the Euro ’76 final.
Since then they’ve won four at World Cups (1982, 1986, 1990, 2006) and two at European Championships (1996, 2016), which is typically efficient from them.
There’s only one winner for us tonight, should Joachim Löw’s men not get the job done in 120 minutes, at 11/1 how could you back against them from the spot?
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