Dutch, Spain both eye history-making victory

Soccer Betting Lines

07/10/2010 - Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - History will be made at Soccer City on Sunday in the final of the FIFA World Cup as either the Netherlands or Spain will claim its first-ever World Cup title.

One of the two sides will become the eighth nation to win a World Cup, and while the Dutch have appeared in the finals on two other occasions, in 1974 and 1978, this is uncharted territory for Spain.

"We haven't achieved anything like this before but this team deserves everything that comes our way," said Spain striker David Villa. "It's not easy to get this far but we're hungry for more and we couldn't be happier at reaching the final. That's what we came here for and now we want to go out and win it."

This will be the second big final for Spain in two years as it beat Germany, 1-0, to win the Euro 2008 title, and as midfielder Xabi Alonso said, "if you reach the final, you want to go on and win it."

Spain has gotten to its first World Cup final with three successive 1-0 victories in the knockout stage, beating Portugal, Paraguay and Germany by the same scoreline.

The Dutch, meanwhile, have found the net seven times in their three knockout stage wins, beating Slovakia and Brazil, 2-1, before a 3-2 triumph over Uruguay in the semifinals.

"We're in the final - unbelievable," overjoyed Dutch manager Bert van Marwijk said following the semifinal win. "When I took this job two years ago, I said to the players, 'We're on a mission, and we just have to believe in ourselves.' We're only a small country but we're through to the final, that's just unbelievable. We last made the final 32 years ago, so what we've achieved is, and I'll say it again, unbelievable."

Wesley Sneijder has also been unbelievable as he has led the team with five goals this tournament, while getting some strong support from both Arjen Robben and Dirk Kuyt on the wings.

However, if the Dutch want to complete their mission, they had better be stronger in defense as they will face a high-powered Spanish attack.

Despite scoring only seven goals in six games so far, Spain has created countless scoring chances and has controlled most of its games with a big edge in possession.

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque will have one big decision to make up top, and that is whether to start the struggling Fernando Torres alongside Villa, or go with Pedro, who played well in his first start against Germany in the semifinals.

The Netherlands has the kind of players in Robben and Sneijder who could be effective on the counter attack, but if Spain is firing on all cylinders on Sunday, it is hard to see it losing.

The Spanish have given up just two goals all tournament, and midfielder Xavi believes that if they can duplicate their semifinal performance, that he likes their chances of bringing home the World Cup.

"Holland are a great team, they've got really strong players, especially from the midfield to the attack and they're on a great run of form," Xavi said. "But we have to play our football - if we play like we did in the semifinal, we have a great chance."

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Super Bowl XLIII Betting - Super Bowl 2009

Super Bowl 2009, the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Let’s take a look at the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds and the betting line and figure out where they’ve been and where they are going to go.

MySportsbook.com put up the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds late on Sunday night with the Pittsburgh Steelers favored by 6.5 points and a total betting line at 47.5 points.

Since then, however, the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds have seen a good deal of movement and you’ll want to be on top of where they are likely to move to make sure you get the best line value for the big game.

Since opening, the Super Bowl 2009 betting lines went to Steelers -7 in the span of roughly 3 hours but were quickly bought back down just minutes later to 6.5 again.

After that is took about 5-6 more hours before the betting line went back to -7 where it has sat for a while now and is likely to remain. The opening betting total of 47.5 was bet down right after the line became available and went to 47 within minutes.

Roughly a day later it has been bet even further down to the 46.5 tally it currently is set at.

Roughly 60% of gamblers seem to be on the Cardinals here so the point spread will be bet down and a 7.5 would not last very long at all with many taking the early 6.5 in hopes of finding a potential middle in the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds.

If you like Arizona and see a 7.5, I’d take it as soon as possible because it’s unlikely to last. For Pittsburgh backers, the -7 might be the best you’ll be able to find but a 6.5 is definitely possible close to game time.

Regarding the Super Bowl 2009 betting odds for the total, most tracked gamblers are already on the over and with those who took the under 47.5 already securing a middle on the over 46.5, the only way I see it moving is back up to 47 so if you like the over, I’d recommend betting now.

Get free Super Bowl XLIII Betting from top rated online sportsbook MySportsbook.com. Mysportsbook.com online Super Bowl betting with credit cards

Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.