Too good to be true.
The World Cup always has a habit of throwing up a few surprises. We saw it last week with defending champions Germany stung by Mexico in their opening group stage game.
Favourites Brazil stumbled their way to a draw against Switzerland and to date, the majority of the plucky underdogs have stuck it to the more fancied sides.
But Wednesday should be a little bit different. Three World Cup games will take place across Russia this afternoon and anything other than wins for Uruguay, Spain and Portugal will be seen as a big surprise.
These three giants are ranked in the bookies’ top ten favourites to win the competition outright and they really should be taking care of the opposition they face here fairly handily.
Uruguay (1/5) to beat Saudi Arabia
Oscar Tabarez’s men flattered to deceive in their opener against Iran, but they’re one of those teams who can win without hitting the heights.
That’s a good characteristic for any team to have and these boys take no nonsense whatsoever. Led by captain Diego Godin, they’re fierce, they’re hungry and they’re in with a chance.
The Saudis lost 5-0 to Russia in their opener. It should be a field day for Suarez and Cavani against the tournament’s weakest team.
This contest is only going one way.
Spain (2/9) to beat Iran
The Spaniards showed enough against Portugal to suggest that their managerial upheaval prior to the beginning of the tournament can be easily forgotten about. They showed enough to suggest they can pass Iran to death.
That’s exactly what Isco, Iniesta and co should do this evening and Diego Costa will land the killer blows.
Portugal (8/13) to beat Morocco
Do you honestly think Morocco have a chance of containing Cristiano Ronaldo?
The treble works out at 1.37-1 – a small bit over even money.
