Venue: Johannesburg – JSC, South Africa
The “Group of Death” are back in action on the 20th of June with one of the most eagerly anticipated games of the tournament’s group stage – Brazil versus the Ivory Coast. The match is to be held at Johannesburg’s Soccer City Stadium, and will kick off at 20:30 local time.
Brazil are the second favourites after Spain to win the tournament, whereas the Ivory Coast, even with doubts about captain Drogba’s fitness, are the favourite African team. The two teams have never played each other before, and with both trying to get out of the toughest group on paper in the tournament there is a lot riding on this game.
Brazil are the favourites to win, with the odds at best 8/13 on them coming out with three points. For the Ivory Coast to win the best price is 11/2. For the draw, the odds are 3/1. This shows Brazil to have a lot more backing from the bookmakers, but in this group anything can happen so the odds on the Elephants are certainly worth a look.
It is a similar story with the correct score market, there are short odds on most Brazil winning lines. The favourite being Brazil 1-0 at 11/2 with Bet365 or US Friendly SportsInteraction. 2-0 gets you 6/1 and 3-0 is 9/1. For a win for the Ivory Coast, you are looking at 16/1 for 1-0 – if they pull it out of the bag there is money to be made backing the African team here.
Luis Fabiano is top choice for first goal scorer. He is offered at 17/4 by Sportsbook.com. Kaka is 11/2, and Robinho is 13/2. For Saloman Kalou for the Ivory Coast you will get 10/1.
Prediction
This is a game where there is a clear favourite but the opposition are strong enough that an upset could occur, which is what makes this fixture so fascinating. I can still see Brazil winning this, particularly if Drogba is absent. My prediction is 3-2 to Brazil.
