Soccer Betting - Will Africa Nation Win 2010 World Cup?

BY NILA AMEROVA/BETUS

That is the overriding question ahead of the 2010 South Africa World Cup. The allure is entirely geographic in nature, the occurrence of the World Cup for the first time ever on African soil. But it is no less a seductive question.

Some would have this sort of consideration/debate premature as an African nation has yet to make it into the semi-finals let alone the final of the world’s biggest soccer event. Only two nations have made it as far as the quarterfinals – Cameroon (1990) and Senegal (2002).

BetUS has rolled out several interesting markets of which some are as follows:

Winning Continent:

•Europe -210
•South America +185
•Rest Of The World +1200
To Reach Semi-final:

•Ivory Coast +500
Ghana +1000
•Cameroon +1000
•South Africa +1400
•Nigeria +1500
•Algeria +4000

To Reach Final:

•Ivory Coast +1200
•Ghana +3000
•Cameroon +4000
•Nigeria +3500
•South Africa +4000
•Algeria +20000

Some interesting anomalies in the last two aforementioned markets are a) Nigeria are priced larger at +1500 than Cameroon at +1000 to reach the semis, yet conversely b) Cameroon are priced larger at +4000 than Nigeria at +3500 to reach the finals. Huh?

Some interesting World Cup facts in the last two decades to take note of when considering the market values of each of these outfits are as follows:

1990 World Cup in Italy – Cameroon and Egypt represented Africa.

Cameroon surprised everyone when they finished at the top of Group B, ahead of Romania, Argentina and Soviet Union, in that order. Top three nations at the time advanced out of the group stage.

Cameroon were the Cinderella story of the tournament, going all the way to the quarterfinals inspired largely by the play of Roger Milla, the first African player to become a major star on the international stage. Cameroon beat Colombia 2:1 in the last 16 before losing narrowly to England 3:2 in the quarters.

1994 World Cup in USA – Cameroon, Morocco and Nigeria represented Africa.

Neither Cameroon nor Morocco advanced out of the group stage. Nigeria though did, once again surprising pundits by topping Group D, ahead of Bulgaria, Argentina and Greece in that order.

Nigeria’s run ended in last 16 when they were eliminated by Italy 2:1.

1998 World Cup in France – Cameroon, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa, and Tunisia represented Africa.

Once again, Nigeria topped group D, this time ahead of Paraguay, Spain and Bulgaria. Nigeria’s run ended in the last 16 when they lost to Denmark 4:1.

2002 World Cup in South Korea –Cameroon, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Tunisia represented Africa.
This time Senegal emerged the Cinderella of the tournament. Senegal advanced out of the group stage on second place finish, after Denmark and ahead of Uruguay and France (defending champions no less) in that order. In fact, Senegal handed the tournament’s first big shock upset when they beat the defending champs France 1:0 in their opening group match. Senegal emulated Cameroon’s inspired run of 1990, going all the way to the quarters, beating Sweden 2:1 in the last 16 before falling somewhat surprisingly to Turkey 1:0 in the quarters. Senegal were minutes away from setting a new standard for Africa by reaching the semis.

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP POWER RANKINGS - TOP AFRICAN TEAM

CC•Ghana +300
•Cameroon +450
•Nigeria +500
•South Africa +900
•Algeria +2000


Top three Faves: Ivory Coast, Ghana and Cameroon

The Ivorian Elephants are the hot favourites of the African nations and are tipped to have the best World Cup campaign of the lot. They were nigh indomitable in their qualifying campaign and stomped the competition something good. High hopes precede them indeed and with Didier Drogba fortifying their ranks it is hard to imagine they would not advance (at least) to the R16. They expect a better result, natch.

Ivory Coast were dealt a tough draw so reaching the last 16 is not going to be a cakewalk. With Brazil and Portugal in their midst in Group G, and the favourites to secure the two spots up for grabs, Ivory Coast understandably come in as the dark horse nation.

Ghana Black Stars are listed second after Ivory Coast in the Top African Team market, trading at +300. Ghana aim to improve on their last outing at the World Cup finals in German – a last 16 appearance.

Ghana qualified on the heels of a strong campaign but as they fall into a rather tough Group D, which includes Germany, Australia and Serbia, they too will have their work cut out for them.

Germany are hands-down the favourites to advance into the knockout stages. Opinion is split between Ghana and Serbia as the second faves. Most surely lean towards Ghana, but Serbia are considered the dark horse in the group and the team to watch for the possible shakedown.

Cameroon Lions will be looking to replicate the heroics of their nation’s 1990 roster that competed in the World Cup in Italy and surprised all asunder by reaching the quarterfinals. Cameroon are listed third in the Top African Nation market at BetUS, carrying a price of +450 odds.

Just as the 1990 squad had a go-to guy in Roger Milla, the 2010 squad has their talisman in Samuel Eto’o. Eto’o, thrice an African Footballer of the Year Award recipient and a genuine world-class superstar, gives Cameroon’s odds value. Eto’o was the second highest top scorer in the African zone, with nine goals – three shy of Moumouni Dagano at 12 goals (Burkina Faso). At times, Eto’o seemed to singlehandedly carry Cameroon through the qualifying rounds, and they will be looking at him to be their leader in South Africa.

Cameroon fall into Group E with the Netherlands, Denmark and Japan. They are considered by and large the second favourites in this group to advance but they will have to overcome an attractive Denmark and a lethal Netherlands, both outfits that arrive in South Africa on the back of convincing qualifying campaigns.

The tipping question is whether this is finally the year when an African nation will come of age on the biggest soccer platform, scripting history unimaginable at previous World Cups as the first-ever African country to win the title. Indeed, if it were to happen it could not happen at a better moment in time or a better place than South Africa.

Naturally, there are several peripheral BetUS markets involving these nations and this very question, such as Winning Continent, which is as follows:
Europe -210 South America +185 Rest Of The World +1200