Olympics2012 – Football – Odds, betting and favourites
By David, bettingexpert.com | Published
There are clear favourites for the men’s competition with Brazil seemingly the best equipped nation in this competition. However, they have never won this title before. On the other hand the number of teams in contention for gold are more for the women’s event.
There are just two gold medals up for grabs as football at the 2012 Olympics is given the form of a normal tournament. For the female competition there are twelve teams taking part, categorized in three groups:
Group E: Brazil, Cameroon, Great Britain, New Zealand
Group F: Canada, Japan, South Africa, Sweden
Group G: Colombia, France, North Korea, USA
Once the group stage is over eight teams will be paired up for the four quarter-finals.
There are four extra teams for the men’s 2012 Olympics football tournament, making for four groups in total with four teams in each:
Group A: Great Britain, Senegal, UAE, Uruguay
Group B: Gabon, Mexico, South Korea, Switzerland
Group C: Belarus, Brazil, Egypt, New Zealand
Group D: Honduras, Japan, Morocco, Spain
Once again eight teams go though the group stage and quarter-finals will be the next round.
For women there are no age restrictions whilst the men’s competition limits ages to 23. However, three players over 23 years of age can be selected for any team.
Olympics 2012 – Football (Women): Odds, betting, favourites
| Group E | Group F | Group G |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Canada | Colombia |
| Cameroon | Japan | France |
| Great Britain | South Africa | North Korea |
| New Zealand | Sweden | USA |
Japan (11.00) are the current World champions, a title they earned last year in Germany when the Women’s World Cup was held over the summer. They were a surprise but had fully deserved the triumph as they defeated Sweden and eventually also favourites USA in the final.
Sweden (13.00) have been paired up in the same group with the Japanese and although we do know how quick and what stamina the Japanese women have proven to possess the Swedes do make it difficult to play against them, potentially matching any team on physical prowess.
The favourites, nonetheless, have to be USA (2.00). Bookmakers agree that the losing finalists in last summer’s Women’s World Cup still have what it takes to be in this until the very end. They were somewhat unlucky to lose the title last year but on the other hand there was an element of complacency as well which played a part.
Perhaps they are not as favoured as their male counter parts, largely due to problems that spiral and make themselves evident as minutes run by and they fail to open the score. However, Brazil (6.00) are a force to acknowledge. Despite being able to count on the World’s best female football player, Marta, and an attacking partner that alongside her is said to form the best attacking strike force, Cristiane, the Brazilians do tend to suffer unnecessarily when they cannot find the net.
Apart from enjoying home advantage Great Britain (5.50) should also be able to enjoy the skills of talented English player Steph Houghton. Eclectic and versatile she can help her team pull off a surprise final victory.
France (8.00) has a team one should be wary of. There have not been many successes to tip them as top favourites in London but they have all it takes to at least make it onto the podium.
Olympics 2012 – Football (Men): Odds, betting, favourites
| Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D |
|---|---|---|---|
| Great Britain | Gabon | Belarus | Honduras |
| Senegal | Mexico | Brazil | Japan |
| UAE | South Korea | Egypt | Morocco |
| Uruguay | Switzerland | New Zealand | Spain |
There really is nowhere to look beyond Brazil (1.57) when searching for a top favourite in the men’s football Olympics tournament. They surely outclass most of the competition with the quality they are able to field. Manager Mano Menezes will be running pre-World Cup trials so to speak with the likes of Neymar, Manchester United target Lucas, new Chelsea boy Oscar, Damiao, Ganso, Milan’s Pato, Romulo and Manchester United’s Rafael all in with a chance to be an integral part of the World Cup team for 2014. The three over-age players are PSG’s new acquisition Thiago Silva, Real Madrid’s Marcelo and Porto’s Hulk. Can you really see any side beat this kind of proposition?
For bookmakers it is the Great Britain (9.00) team which goes closest. However, they are more of a media sensation, as most other football teams from the British islands. A lot of hype has surrounded Beckham’s unjustified exclusion. Stuart Pearce clearly wanted to show off some muscle and pride by making it clear that he is capable of taking tough decisions. It would probably have been harder to actually take Beckham but anyway he opted for Giggs, Bellamy and Micah Richards. The prospects are looking bleak but they might be able to take a medal if they can channel the fantastic home support into something useful.
From the Americas it is two other teams who join the competition with good chances of being in the top three. Uruguay (10.00), with the addition of Napoli’s Cavani and Liverpool’s Luis Suarez, have an excellent attacking lineup. They are rightly considered a team which can be up for a silver medal behind Brazil. Mexico (12.00) have some good chances as well but they will have to keep their calm and focus until the very end.
The Asian continent’s chances will have to be shouldered by Japan (11.00) and South Korea (21.00). They might not be able to match Brazil, just like any other team cannot, but they can both go on to grab some metal. Africa’s best chances rest with Senegal (17.00).
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