Soccer World Cup Preview: England vs. Italy
IMPORTANT NOTE: This contest will be played in Manaus, Amazonia! We are talking about tropical heat w/ humidity up to 80%! We can expect both team players to be exhausted in the second half…
England has been a major disappointment in the last tournaments while their expectations are always high. However, this isn’t happening for this World Cup! Usually, their players are exhausted going for this type of tournaments as the English Premier League is brutal physically and demands a ton of energy. The good news for them is that their team is young and his NT coach is tempting to use 5 Liverpool players who didn’t play any game in the European competitions, so they will be relatively “fresh” for this WC and they can surprise everyone.
It looks like Buffon is OUT for this contest and this could be a key factor as Buffon is still one of the best keepers of the world. This is basically the same team that went to the Final of EURO2012: strong defense (Juventus based) and everything works around Pirlo in the midfield. Balotelli and especially Immobile are scoring threats who can play in the channels and benefit from Pirlo’s world class through passes.
I had a small lean w/ England but they are already slight favorites in this contest = no VALUE! A potential DRAW is also tempting especially if the game is tied midway second half – both teams won’t have the proper legs and mind to be assertive due to the extreme weather conditions.
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