Brazil beats Ivory Coast to secure berth in next round

Soccer Betting Lines

06/20/2010 - Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Luis Fabiano had two goals and Elano scored in his second straight match, helping Brazil secure a spot in the knockout round of the FIFA World Cup with a 3-1 win Sunday over Ivory Coast.

Fabiano scored in the 25th and 50th minutes, and Elano added the third goal in the 62nd minute at Soccer City Stadium, as Brazil sealed its 11th-straight appearance in the knockout stage.

Brazil opened with a 2-1 win over North Korea and leads Group G with two wins. Ivory Coast and Portugal have one point apiece. Portugal plays North Korea on Monday to wrap up the second round of Group G matches.

Brazil controlled the game from the opening minute when Robinho fired high on a 35-yard blast to set the tone. Gilberto Silva and Robinho followed with two quick shots in the 19th, but the first was deflected and the latter went well high.

Fabiano handed Brazil the lead inside 25 minutes, finishing a short pass from Kaka to open the scoring. Kaka was lucky to maintain possession just outside the penalty area and slid a pass through Ivory Coast defenders Siaka Tiene and Kolo Toure to send Fabiano into the box.

Fabiano fired into the top-right corner from a tight angle to finish the play, and was on target again five minutes into the second half as Brazil started to dominate the match.

Fabiano was a bit lucky on his second goal as he used two handballs to set up an otherwise hypnotizing finish. Fabiano initially settled the ball with his left arm with Tiene on his hip, then lifted the ball over Didier Zokora, and lastly juggled the ball over Toure to avoid all three defenders.

He then settled his own final maneuver against Toure by bringing the ball down off his upper arm and fired off goalie Boubacar Barry's fingertips and inside the right post.

Didier Drogba, who started for Ivory Coast, reached a cross from Aruna Dindane with his head in the 54th despite being defended by Maicon and Lucio, but he nodded the ball just inches wide of the right post.

Elano fired wide from 30 yards on the hour mark, and Kaka was denied by Barry after a quick passing combination with Robinho in the 61st as Brazil looked to seal the match.

Elano, who scored in Brazil's 2-1 win over North Korea, added his second goal of the tournament in the 62nd off a nice assist from Kaka, who drove down the left and slanted a cross back to the middle of the box for Elano to finish off from 10 yards.

Ivory Coast's Romaric forced a save by Brazil goalie Julio Cesar in the 74th, and Drogba cut the deficit by a goal five minutes later.

Gervinho made a nice run down the left and, without any options, slowed the play down and eventually slipped a pass outside the area to Yaya Toure. Toure lofted a pass into the area, and Drogba headed the ball from 12 yards inside the right post.

Both teams were involved in a scrum late in the match following a challenge by Kaka on Abdul Kader Kaita, who flopped to the ground and grabbed his face even though he was elbowed in the chest.

Kaka was eventually issued a yellow card, his second of the game, and was sent off and will miss Brazil's third group match against Portugal on Friday. Ivory Coast plays its final group match Friday against North Korea.

Wwwcrockfordscasinos Soccer Betting News

<< Konerko and Garcia lead White Sox to sweep of Nats
Washington, DC (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Paul Konerko drove in three runs and scored a run, as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Washington Nationals, 6-3, to complete a three-game series sweep at Nationals Park. Alex Rios went 3-for-5 with t

<< Brewers activate P Coffey
Denver, CO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Milwaukee Brewers reinstated relief pitcher Todd Coffey from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. Coffey had missed the last three weeks because of a right thumb contusion, with his last appearance comi

<< Kanaan ends two-year winless streak at Iowa
Newton, IA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Tony Kanaan snapped a 34-race winless drought in the IZOD IndyCar Series by taking Sunday's Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway. Kanaan, the 2004 series champion, passed Helio Castroneves with 10

<< Mariners' Jack Wilson activated from DL
Seattle, WA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Seattle Mariners activated shortstop Jack Wilson from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday and optioned infielder/outfielder Matt Tuiasosopo to Triple-A Tacoma. Wilson, who last played

<< Pavano goes the distance as Twins take rubber match with Phillies
Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Pavano notched his second complete game of the season and Justin Morneau finished 2-for-4 with a homer and two runs scored as Minnesota quieted Philadelphia, 4-1, in the rubber match of a three-g

Portugal should expect battle from North Korea >>
Cape Town, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Portugal may be the third-ranked team in the world according to FIFA, but it should expect to get a battle from North Korea on Monday at Green Point Stadium in its second Group G contest. Portuga

Swiss staying grounded for match against Chile >>
Port Elizabeth, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Switzerland pulled off the biggest upset of the FIFA World Cup by beating Spain, 1-0, in its opening game of the tournament. Now the Swiss will try for their second win in as many matches

Spain needs to bounce back against Honduras >>
Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Spain entered the FIFA World Cup as one of the favorites and after a shocking 1-0 loss to Switzerland, resumes its tournament Monday against Honduras in Group H play with expectations still high.

Hinske breaks tie in eighth, lifts Braves to sweep of Royals >>
Atlanta, GA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Hinske doubled home the tie-breaking runs in the eighth inning to lift Atlanta to an 8-5 win over Kansas City and a series sweep of their interleague matchup at Turner Field. The Royals loaded the

Jennifer Song wins professional debut >>
Decatur, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Jennifer Song won her professional debut on Sunday at the Duramed Futures Tour's Players Championship, the only major on the circuit. Song, who turned professional Monday, fired a nine-under 61 on Sunda

SPORTS BETTING - Tennis is an underrated and under-utilized bettors' sport.

Ten years ago, at just about this time, I called Alan Boston in Vegas and left him a voicemail that went something like this (abridged version): "Hey Alan, Chad Millman from ESPN The Magazine calling. I want to do a book about wise guys, you in?"

A couple weeks later I got a message back (abridged version): "I don't know, maybe," Boston said. "Call me and we'll talk about it. But not later today. I got $1,000 on Andre Agassi to win the French Open at 40-1, and he's in the finals."

Here's what happened next (abridged version): Agassi won his tourney. Boston won his $40,000. I wrote sportsbook.

In the ten years since, how much has been wagered on the big-time tennis events? Put it this way: The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't even track the number year by year because it's so small.

"Tennis makes up about one-tenth of one percent of our take," says Lucky's bookmaking boss Jimmy Vaccaro. "The last big golf major we probably had $100,000 worth of bets. In tennis, we might have written two big tickets."

Tennis' lack of popularity amongst the American bettoratti is no surprise, really. For starters, the biggest sports betting holidays -- the Super Bowl, the NCAA tourney -- are must see TV. People, at least the degenerates I know, plan vacations around watching those events in Vegas sports books.

But Wimbledon? Doesn't exactly reel in the whales. "Seriously, it's the nuts as an event," says Boston. "But who even knows when it's on?"

Here's another reason that helps explain why golf gets traction, something I call "The Bubbe Theory." My Bubbe is pushing 95 and has cataracts so bad that, to her, even the most crystalline Chicago day is mostly cloudy. But she still listens to the Cubs games, and she still calls me in a fit if she disagrees with something Rick Telander writes in the Chicago Sun Times. She's a sports fan. If she doesn't know you, you're just filling a niche. And niche players, even historically good ones like Roger and Raf, don't drive betting volume. Only the highest profile names attract square money, which inflates wagering totals like a shot of saline to the lips. Bubbe, and the public, loved Agassi, tennis' last cross-the-rubicon, mainstream draw. She also has a crush on Tiger. She's given me standing orders to put a sawbuck on the big cat whenever I walk through a sports book (or mistakenly tap into one via my Internet machine.) That explains why the Masters is getting $100K in action at some books while the four tennis majors might not get that combined this year.

This isn't a case of tennis being a difficult sport to bet. In fact, in Europe, it's probably the second most popular sport for gambling after soccer. Granted, as the WSJ football betting last week and The Mag's Shaun Assael examined in even greater depth last year, that might be because gamblers across the pond see it as an easy game to fix. But it could also be because, over there it holds the kind of sway the big two do over here.

Street corners in Spain are peppered with public courts and kids doing their best Raffy impressions. In some war torn parts of Eastern Europe poverty-stricken kids view tennis as an escape route, like football or basketball here. A couple years ago The Mag's Lindsay Berra wrote a great piece about Belgrade's Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. They learned the game as kids while bombs were raining down on their homeland. They practiced in drained swimming pools. Not exactly Nick Bolletierri conditions.

In the United States, casual fans think tennis is played four times a year. But on the tightly packed European continent, national interest in homegrown talent runs deep every weekend. Of the ATP's current top 20 players, only two, tennis betting and James Blake, are American. Fourteen are from Europe, representing six different countries.

No wonder fans from Lisbon to Bhudapest get jacked up for the net game, whether it's Wimbledon or a low-level tourney like the Estoril Open in Portugal (congrats to Spain's Albert Montanes for winning that one, btw). Chances are good that someone representing their flag will not only be playing, but have a shot at winning.

And that's all any bettor can ask for.

To visit this sports book go to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting needs.