Lets get the South American going again guys!

Well I have to admint my 5-1 on Ecuador was wasted, however the scoreline seems to suggest that they at least made it an interesting contest, though I suppose keeping it tight, is not the same as threatening to win.

Has anyone read a match report??

[edtkh]

Alright, I may be talking thrash but Bolivia have certainly got to be value at 4.50 to beat the 'mighty' Venezuela! Can't believe Venezuela are priced at 1.61 for the Wed WC Qualifier when they've consistently been one of the worse three teams in the South American Qualifying Zone. While Bolivia haven't qualified for a WC since USA'94 and their performances in the last 2 WC Qualifying campaigns have only been marginally better than Venezuela, someone's got to tell me how Venezuela are worth a shot at 1.61! This beggars belief! :x

Similarly, Chile are priced at 1.80 to beat Paraguay who are available at a massive 4.00 at most places. :b This must be some sort of a joke - don't remember Chile doing anything of significance in the 2002 WC qualifying campaign and the thought of them beating a Paraguay squad comprising of more or less the same squad that partook in Japan-Korea 2002 is simply too remote to think about. :b

Two massively overpriced bets IMO - anyone with thoughts on why neither could be backed at such massive odds? :smokin

IMHO
Its just about Home and Away, both of these teams are very extreem examples of the trend in South American Football, which is Win your home gaimes and lose the away ones. Its only Argentina and Brasil that consistently get good results away from home, and sometimes they even struggle.
If you look at all the teams you mention above that they have nearly 100% winning records at home against the other 'weaker' sides, coupled with 100% losing record away from home.
I can get 1.9 on Chile and think its a good bet..

[Matt]

I actually think Venezuela are value

Venezuela to beat Bolivia at 1.72 (hills)

Last meetings: Venezuela 4-2 Bolivia (qualifier)
Venezuela 2-0 Bolivia (friendly)

Ive stated many times on this site that I believe Bolivia are the worsed team in South Amerca, they pick up the odd point at home but away they are truly truly woeful. Venezuela are still one of the poorer sides in this section but they have improved drastically over the last couple of years and in Juan Arango have a player who looks truly capable of testing the top defences in the commebol.

Bolivia lost 5-0 in Uruguay and 3-0 in Argentina and they are just dreadful, agaisnt Uruguay they didnt get out of thier own half and Im told Argentina played terrible yet still come away with a 3-0 win.

Venezuela came under pressure agaisnt Colombia but secured a terrific 1-0 win and they also were very unlucky losing at Ecaudor spurning excellent chances before losing 2-0 in Quito.

Vene are a very much improving side and Bolivias away form and general quality is enough for me to go with a price on teh home team here.

I cant help thinking that 13.5 available on bf for a Uruguay victory in Brazil is ridiculous.

I didnt see the Peru game but they are a vastly overrated team. Sure they have nice attacking players but defensively im not sure - they have Roque Junior at centre half for fcuks sake!

They only beat ecuador 1-0 at home and Colombia 2-1 away along with the 1-1 at Peru.

On top of this people forget the Brazilians very nearly missed out on WC qualification last time although made up for that in the final's.

As for Uruguay - they always strike me as a solid - physical team partcularly displayed in the WC against Senegal I think when they came back to draw 3-3.
Their home form is good: 5-0 Bolivia and 2-1 Chile however they got walloped 4-1 away at Paraguay.

Looks like fair value at approx 12/1 and a draw saver.

Any thoughts?

[Matt]

BTW if anyone wants to see the goals from the weekend you can see them here........

www.peru.com/Futbol/elimi...echa03.asp

Chile v Paraguay 1@1.90
Home win looks like a value!Striker Jose Cardozo(Paraguay) has injury problems and he is questionable,but he could be ready for this match...
Defensive midfielder Carlos Bonet had a thigh injury while defenders Carlos Gamarra and Julio Cesar Caceres and midfielder Carlos Paredes were suffering from various strains and knocks.

[Big Andy]

i`m with Matt on this

you can get 2.02 with betfair now for Venezuela. just put a chunk on.

stebed,

I may be completely off track here but I don't think Brazil have ever lost a home WC qualifier. Sure I read that somewhere but don't take it as gospel, just one of these things that seemed to pop into my head.

[Matt]

Venezuela wins 2-1.

The money I won will now pay my heart surgery after listening to the game! :o

livescore says 89 and 90 minutes

[Matt]

thats generous!

I was listening on radio and tehy said 91st and 93rd

[Big Andy]

Matt, where did you manage to listen to that ?, the only stuff I could get was in Spanish or whatever language they speak.

Great result though, I went to bed resigned to losing a wedge but also hoping to get up to a nice surprise. :smokin

the best I could find was a minute by minute ticker thing which I could partially translate and get an idea what was happening. Did Bolivia have a goal dissalowed just after half time ?, only according to the ticker they did only for it to be chalked off a minute later, I nearly choked on me kebab

I may be a mile off the mark but from what I read, Bolivia whipped Venezuela ? is that right ?, apart from the last 2 mins that is :hat

The money I won will now pay my heart surgery after listening to the game

-

[Matt]

Ian, I listened to Radio Avocion which is in spanish but I did 3 years of spanish and have listened like this for a couple of years so I can now pick up enough to get by. Its just basically listening out for players names etc that will get you by.

I presume you had the minuto de minuto of peru.com up, they did chalk of a bolivia goal but I dont no why as it was never dissallowed.

On the game, Bolivia totally dominated the first half but Venezuela dominated the second half and Bolivia acored agaisnt the run of play bigtime, a fair result would have been a draw but ive had some rough luck lately so I deserved this one.

Crowie - You could be right, they are strong at home.

However the point was 12.5/1 was an exceptional price -I reckon they should be no bigger than 6-7/1.
Uruguay are a strong international side and IMO are very overrated.

Probably gonna stay up to watch the match and may play a little more In Running if that market is up.

Well Im staying up for this match so looking for a little interest bet. Brazil will win IMO but price is pretty low and wouldnt like to touch over/under because even the most attacking of matches have a tendency to end 1-0.

Anyone help with corners? Would I be wrong in thinking South American matches have less corners than say European matches because of the style of play? Im just thinking of a little 9 or under bet to fulfill my dream of betting on what seems a pointless thing in the wonder that is the corners market

Failing that these feisty South Americans always look good for 9pts + on the betfair booking index. Anyone know what level the rivalry between these two countries is?

Dean - Im also staying up for this game, thank god for tonsilitis and the rest of the week off work

Anyway about the match: I took a little of Uruguay at 12.5/1 earlier in the week and I believe they are still value for a decent result.

I am not saying they will win but they are much better than the odds suggest.
Uruguay have a newish manager who will not stand for any petulance and took Forlan off as soon as he got involved in an incident in the last game.
I expect a tight game with the away side v.defensive in the first half not wanting to give anything away.

However Zayaleta at Juve and Forlan have bags of pace and Brazil are suspect at the back - Lucio dwells on the ball far to much and full backs are prone to go walkabouts.

I also like Uruguay +1.5 on the AH.
First goal after 26 mins at 10/11 with B365.

So in short I dont expect too many bookings, Uruguay will want to keep it tight in the first half so maybe low corner count.

[Big Andy]

deancrus, i think your point about bookings is a decent one. these south/central american refs are sommat else and from what i`ve seen theyre partial to pulling the card out, so that combined with players who tend to go down quicker and easier than Gillian Taylforth on the hard shoulder of the motorway, your bound to get a run for your money.

A Little info courtesy of the BBC:

Uruguay's Juan Ramon Carrasco is no ordinary coach.

In Saturday's World Cup qualifier at home to Chile, young midfielder Pablo Munhoz was playing his first competitive international.

Carrasco awarded him the captaincy - and then hauled him off at half time when he was not happy with his performance.

Also replaced at the interval was Diego Forlan.

The Manchester United striker was not playing badly, nor was he injured. But he had picked up a yellow card after becoming involved in a petulant tangle with a Chile defender.

This is the type of behaviour that Carrasco can't stand, and will not tolerate. So off came Forlan.

Uruguay's coach, a skilful midfielder in his playing days, is a true football romantic.

He wants his side to play clean, attacking football - and he puts his team-sheet where his mouth is.

On Wednesday Carrasco's Uruguay face the supreme test for an attacking side - they travel to take on world champions Brazil


Packed with strikers and creative midfielders, Uruguay are playing the kind of football that guarantees a full house in Montevideo's Centenario stadium.

Having so many fast strikers always gives them the option of lengthening the play with a forward pass.

The opposition are forced to drop back, creating space for Uruguay to mix up their game with a rapid exchange of short passes.

In their home matches against Bolivia and Chile some of their football has been a joy to behold.

But can it work against the top sides - especially away from home? In their one trip so far they started off brightly against Paraguay - but were over-run in the second half, unable to cope with their opponent's power in the air, and beaten 4-1.

So there are still plenty of doubts about Carrasco's unorthodox methods.

But this week, one way or the other, they may get cleared up. Because on Wednesday Carrasco's Uruguay face the supreme test for an attacking side - they travel to take on world champions Brazil.

Football would certainly be more interesting if there were more coaches imitating the approach of Juan Ramon Carrasco


The skill, pace and power of Brazil's forward line is quite breathtaking.

Opponents usually try to cope with the likes of Ronaldo, Rivaldo and Kaka by crowding them out, reducing their space by getting as many men around the ball as possible.

Uruguay cannot do that and maintain their attacking philosophy - they can only put 11 players on the field.

Carrasco will inevitably take precautions. He will go with a back four, rather than the line of 3 defenders he uses at home.

And he will almost certainly re-enforce the midfield by dropping one of his strikers. But he says that the central idea - to attack the opposition - will remain.

One of the joys of football is the fact that it can be interpreted in so many different styles. It is like a universal language which is spoken with many different accents.

But it is inevitably true that successful teams are copied, while the losers are condemned to re-think.

So it would be nice if, whatever the result on Wednesday night, Uruguay come away from Brazil with their pride intact.

Football would certainly be more interesting if there were more coaches imitating the approach of Juan Ramon Carrasco