Germany v Uruguay live on TV tonight - Who will finish third?
Losing semi-finalists Germany and Uruguay would probably rather be on the plane home after the disappointment of this week’s semi-final defeats, but they will have to lift themselves one more time as they do battle for the dubious honour of third place on Saturday night.
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Few would have foreseen Uruguay leading the way from their continent, outlasting the likes of Brazil and Argentina in this tournament. The expected South American dominance never really materialised in the end, and their last hope died out this week as Holland and Spain set up the first ever all-European final outside of Europe. Uruguay were beaten 3-2 by Holland on Tuesday night, while Germany narrowly lost out 1-0 to European champions Spain on Wednesday.
The Germans find themselves in the third place play-off for the second consecutive World Cup. Joachim Loew’s young side made a huge impact on these finals and are sure to be even stronger in Brazil in 2014. They looked un-stoppable as they hit four past Argentina in the quarter-finals, but came up surprisingly short against the Spanish on Wednesday night.
Uruguay will, no doubt, be remembered as the side that knocked out Ghana in controversial circumstances in the quarter-finals, but the South Americans played some exciting attacking football in what was their best World Cup showing since 1970. Their defence looked shaky for the first time in the tournament against the Dutch on Tuesday night, and they will have to be at their best to contain the Germans here.
Germany start the match as strong 8/11 favourites, with the draw5/2 and Uruguay as big as 7/2 to win. Those prices are something of a surprise, and gien that this is essentially and exhibition match, it’s hard to make too much of a case for backing the Germans at odds-on. Uruguay in the Draw no Bet market look very tempting at 12/5.
This match can still have a massive bearing on the race for the Golden Boot, as Diego Forlan looks to add to his tally of four goals and both Thomas Muller and Luis Suarez return to action after suspension. Muller needs one goal to catch Sneijder and Villa on five, while Suarez needs two. Forlan is 9/4 to score at any time here, while Suarez and Muller are both 12/5, with Suarez particularly appealing at that price.
One player who will not be treating this as a dead rubber is Miroslav Klose. The Bayern Munich striker has already equalled Gerd Muller’s 14 World Cup goals for Germany and one more goal from Klose will equal Ronaldo’s all-time record of 15, which will also put him back in the race for the Golden Boot. Klose is available at 5/4 with Blue Square for a goal at any time, while he is also the favourite in the First Goalscorer market at 9/2.
Both of these sides have impressed with their attacking philosophies during this tournament, and with the pressure off, it would make sense to expect the goals to flow in this one. The prices reflect that with Over 2.5 Goals a 4/6 shot. Not since 1974 has a third place playoff match yielded less than three goals, with four or more in three of the last 4 World Cups, so a repeat of four or more goals could certainly carry lots of appeal at 7/4.