Football Best Bet

Portugal

Now its into the Quarter-Final Stage and Portugal will be in action 1st against the tournament favorites Germany. Having made 8 changes in the previous match against Switzerland, most of their star players have had 1 weeks rest whereas Germany had to play their 2nd match in 3 days.

The Portuguese will be feeling much fresher then the Germans. They will be trying to use their speed to get pass the Germans’ defence. This is their 4th time getting into the last 8 in successions. The Portuguese will be trying to build on this record and get into the Semi Finals.

Man 2 Watch:

Cristiano Ronaldo - He will be Portugal’s focus in the attack. He will be looking to terrorize the defence of Germany and Metzelder may have a hard time containing him as he is too fast.

Possible Starting 11:

Ricardo, Pepe, Ricardo Carvalho, Bosingwa, Paulo Ferreira, Simao, Petit, Deco, Joao Moutinho, Cristiano Ronaldo, Nuno Gomes

Form:

Last 5 Portugal matches:
15.06.2008	GROUP A	Switzerland-Portugal		2:0
11.06.2008	GROUP A	Czech Rep.-Portugal		1:3
07.06.2008	GROUP A	Portugal-Turkey		2:0
31.05.2008	FRIENDLY	Portugal-Georgia		2:0
26.03.2008	FRIENDLY	Portugal-Greece		1:2

Germany

Will Germany be affected by the absence of their manager Joachim Low? Being the tournament favorites before the start of the tournament, Germany have not been playing what is expected from them. They will be looking to improve their form by getting a win over Portugal.

Germany will be playing their 2nd match in 3 days and with the speed and pace in the Portuguese team, will it be too much for the Germans to handle?

Man 2 Watch:

Michael Ballack - Portugal’s manager Luiz Felipe Scolari have marked Germany’s influential Captain as the potential threat as he will be looking to spur the Germans on with manager Joachim Low being banned from touchline.

Possible Starting 11:

Jens Lehmann, Christoph Metzelder,  Arne Friedrich, Philip Lahm, Clemens Fritz, PerMertesacker, Torsten Frings, Michael Ballack, Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, Mario Gomez

Form:

Last 5 Germany matches:
16.06.2008	GROUP B	Austria - Germany		0:1
12.06.2008	GROUP B	Croatia - Germany		2:1
08.06.2008	GROUP B	Germany - Poland		2:0
31.05.2008	FRIENDLY	Germany - Serbia		2:1
27.05.2008	FRIENDLY	Germany - Belarus		2:2

The Pick:

I would go for a either a 1-1 draw or Portugal coming off with a 2-1 win over the Germans.

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