London 2012: Men’s Olympic Football Betting
Men’s Olympic Football Betting
Read our full Olympic betting pack here. Find out which Team GB stars to watch and who else to look out for.
Find out which other young stars to watch out for during the Olympics.
Brazil warmed up for London 2012 in style last Friday with a 2-0 win over Great Britain, and they go into the Olympics as 6/4 favourites.
That the full Brazil manager Mano Menezes, is managing the Olympic side indicates how importantly the summer games are being viewed in Brazil. Brazil have a new generation of youngsters coming through and London 2012 is seem as the perfect way to blood them in tournament football.
Brazil have failed to ever win the men’s Olympic football tournament and their current crop of under-23’s, supplanted by Thiago Silva, Hulk and Marcelo, will be very close to the side that lines up in Rio in 2014.
They beat Great Britain with ease at the Riverside, before the game resembled an exhibition match, and a forward line of Hulk, Neymar and one of Lucas Moura, Pato, Oscar and Leandro Damiao will be a joy to watch this summer.
Spain are second favourites with the bookies at 5/2; and an Olympic gold medal is about all the Spanish football team have left to monopolise. La Roja are current World and European Champions, plus the reigning Under-19 and Under-20 European Champions; an Olympic gold medal would be the latest trophy for this talented generation.
They have picked a strong side for London 2012. Jordi Alba, Juan Mata and Javi Martinez played a part in Euro 2012 and are likely to provide the core of this side. The tiki-taka philosophy is engrained in Spain’s youth set-up from their teenage years, so expect to see lots more ball possession from Luis Milla’s side.
Uruguay are third favourites, despite not being one of four top seeded teams before the Olympic football draw, but their Copa America win in 2011 showed that their semi-final run in South Africa was no fluke. An over-age strike force of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani will lead the line with the midfield flair added by Nicolas Lodeiro and Gaston Ramirez.
‘La Celeste’ are in Group A alongside Team GB, with the third group game between them expected to decide who tops the group on August 1st. Uruguay won two Olympic gold medals in a row, in 1924 and 1928 (a side that beat Spain to winning three successive tournaments, topped with a World Cup win in 1930) and look a dark-horse at 7/1 to go all the way this summer.
Team GB have entered the Olympic football tournament for the first time since 1964 and if they win the gold, Great Britain will officially be the most successful Olympic football side in history, with four wins.
They were pushed out to 11/1 after the defeat to Brazil and Stuart Pearce has a side with limited international experience. Only eight of the squad have represented their respective nation at senior level, compared to all 18 for Brazil. They showed better ball-retention than the England side at Euro 2012, but will need some luck to claim the gold medal on August the 11th.
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