Tuesday’s Best World Cup Picks
Ivory Coast (+242) vs. Portugal (+138)
Will he or won’t he? That’s the question everyone is asking about Ivory Coast forward Didier Drogba. The Chelsea international, considered one of the top players in the world, fractured his elbow in a warm-up match against Japan on June 4.
Despite the injury and the lack of practice, Ivory Coast aren’t ruling out Drogba for their first match. That’s because Tuesday’s cracker against Portugal will likely decide the second team advancing from Group G. (Most assume Brazil will win the finish atop the group and North Korea will bow out.)
There’s more to the Elephants than just Drogba. Yaya Toure, Salomon Kalou, Kolo Toure and Gervinho all play for top level club teams are have the talent to raise their form if Drogba is a no-go.
Portugal, on the other hand, don’t have the same type of talent to complement star forward Cristiano Ronaldo.
Pick: Ivory Coast on the spread (pick and +0.5, -110)
Brazil (-960) vs. North Korea (+3095)
This isn’t your father’s, or even your older brother’s Brazil. New manager Dunga doesn’t care about playing with flair and style. Brazil play now with discipline and aggression.
And despite the success of the new strategy at last year’s Confederations Cup, Brazilians are still criticizing Dunga for taking away the beautiful game.
"I want to win the title," Brazil defender Maicon told ESPN Soccernet. "Regardless of playing with flair or playing ugly, the most important thing is to win. The most important thing is that on July 11 we are in the final, bringing the trophy home."
The coach could win some win supporters with a Germany-like performance in Samba Kings’ first match against North Korea, arguably the worst team in the tournament.
The heavy underdogs are already down their best striker because he was listed as a goalkeeper on North Korea’s final roster. That means striker Kim Myong-won won’t be able to play any other position other than keeper in the tournament.
We still like the over in this one. North Korea are supremely over-matched and will struggle to contain Brazil’s attack.
Pick: Over 3 (+110)