Only two teams are left standing in the 2014 World Cup. Brazil had hoped to bounce back from a humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany in the semi-finals, but there was no mercy in the third-place game as the Netherlands team blanked them 3-0. With that stinging defeat Brazil conceded 14 goals in World Cup play, the most for one nation since 1986 and the most for a host nation in World Cup history. Brazil will surely rebound from their wounded pride and come back stronger than ever in international play, but for the time being they will take a back seat to the final two teams playing on Sunday at 2 PM ET. Argentina advanced to the match with Germany in a most unexpected fashion. They were a slim favorite in the betting odds going up against the Netherlands, but ultimately had to win it 4-2 on penalty kicks after failing to break a scoreless tie in either regulation or extended time. Argentina has won scrappy close games throughout the World Cup: 1-0 over Belgium, 1-0 over Switzerland in extended time, 2-1 over Bosnia and Herzegovina, and so on. Argentina doesn’t rely on a high powered offense or a flurry of scoring – they count on effective goalkeeping and taking advantage of small opportunities. They follow the old adage that you don’t have to be a LOT better than your opponent – just a little better at the RIGHT time. So who will prevail in today’s showdown between Germany and Argentina? If you based your answer solely on the one-handed beatdown the Germans handed Brazilian you’d think the odds would be heavily lopsided – but that’s just not the case. Including extra time and shootouts, Germany is a small -155 favorite to take the Cup, and Argentina is an equally narrow +140. Given Argentina’s previous history of playing games close and winning by narrow margins, this is the kind of dog I like when hunting. While it’s true that Toni Kroos and Andre Schurrle can bust a game wide open at any moment, the play of Olympic gold medalist Sergio Romero rivals or even exceeds that of vaunted U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. If anybody can find a way to shut down the precision engineered German scoring attack, Romero is the man to do the job. The propositions add interesting spice to an already flavorful mix. What would you risk on Argentina blanking Germany 3-0 in regulation + stoppage time? The dog on that bet is +4750, and ANY OTHER RESULT is -11500. You can’t win much on the favorite there but you’re also very unlikely to lose. Argentina 1-0 is a little closer at +675 to -1050. There’s still a fairly big swing even on the odds of a tie in regulation at +545 for 0-0 and -790 against. That’s another tempting dog to lay a little action on – you don’t even have to believe in a winner as such just excellent goalkeeping on both ends of the pitch. As always please remember these previews are for entertainment purposes and you should only wager what you can afford. Enjoy today’s finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup!
