Germany vs. Uruguay, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium Port Elizabeth South Africa 2:30 PM EST Saturday July 10, 2010 on ESPN
by Jason Green of Predictem.com
Match Odds: Germany 1.65 / Uruguay 4.75 / Draw 3.50
Over/Under: 2.5 goals
Moneyline: Germany -153 / Uruguay +400 / Draw +260
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On Saturday night in the third place match Uruguay takes on three time World Cup champion Germany. Obviously each team is disappointed not to be in the finals, as each team lost by one goal in the semifinals. However, 3rd place in the World Cup is nothing to sneeze at and if Uruguay wins it will be their best World Cup finish since winning it in 1950.
In their semifinal losses Uruguay lost to Holland 3-2 and Germany lost to Spain 1-0.
Uruguay showed a lot of fight in their loss to Holland, as they went down 2 goals in the second half and still attacked and almost pulled it off. They will have to play great in this match and it will be easier since they will have Luis Suarez back in the lineup after his red card in the quarterfinals. He has been the hero twice for Uruguay scoring 2 goals in the round of 16 match against South Korea and then the intentional hand-ball that saved the day for the South American squad in the quarterfinals win against Ghana.
In their loss to Holland Uruguay had more shots (12 to 11) and they will have to pressure the German defense in the 3rd place match. Holland barely won the time of possession battle in the match (53% to 47%) and they cannot allow Germany control the ball in the match or they will be in trouble.
Germany did not look good in their loss against Spain and even though the time of possession battle was pretty even (Germany 49% Spain 51%) they only had 5 shots total and 2 shots on goal. Their counter-attack was thwarted by the Spanish defense, which really hurt them. Luckily for Germany they will get Thomas Muller back from suspension and he will help them up front.
Germany Recent Form:
7/7/2010 Germany 0 Spain 1 (World Cup)
7/3/2010 Germany 4 Argentina 0 (World Cup)
6/27/2010 Germany 4 England 1 (World Cup)
6/23/2010 Germany 1 Ghana 0 (World Cup)
6/18/2010 Germany 0 Serbia 1 (World Cup)
Uruguay Recent Form:
7/6/2010 Uruguay 2 Holland 3 (World Cup)
7/2/2010 Uruguay 1 Ghana 1 (Uruguay won on Penalties 4-2) (World Cup)
6/26/2010 Uruguay 2 South Korea 1 (World Cup)
6/22/2010 Uruguay 1 Mexico 0 (World Cup)
6/16/2010 Uruguay 3 South Africa 0 (World Cup)
Uruguay gave up 3 goals to Holland and they will have to shore up their defense against Germany. Even though Germany was shut out in the semifinal match against Spain they are still the highest scoring team in the World Cup with 14 goals.
Uruguay has scored 9 goals in the World Cup and they are an attacking squad, but they cannot allow the Germans to get out on the counter-attack, as that is one of their main strengths.
Uruguay defense has been up and down in the World Cup and they will have to play well, especially defending the counter-attack and the German striker dup of Miroslav Klose and Thomas Muller. One, if not both, of these guys will score in this match.
German MF Bastian Schweinsteiger looked out of sync against Spain and will have to play well against Uruguay. He is the key player in the midfield, as he sets up the counter-attack and is great at feeding the strikers the ball. He also is a threat to score, as he scored the first goal in the 4-0 rout of Argentina in the quarterfinals.
Jason’s Pick to Win: Both teams will go all out in this match, but it may mean more to Uruguay. It is a surprise that they got this far, but they will not win this match. Uruguay will run into a tough German defense while not being able to stop them scoring. Germany will win this match, as Uruguay will finish in fourth place in the World Cup, which equals their best finish (1970) since they won it in 1950.