International
2007-12-13 - Urawa Red Diamonds vs AC Milan
A Sports Betting Pick by Romerz
FIFA Club World Cup 2007
13 December 2007 – 19.30 (local time)
International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan
This much awaited 2nd semifinal match is between Urawa Reds of Japan representing AFC against one of Europe’s giant, AC Milan of Italy representing UEFA.
It will the 2nd match for Urawa Reds but the 1st for AC Milan in this tournament. (Fifa Site)
Urewa Red Diamonds
“It is the best of times and the worst of times….” This is how I would describe Urawa reds since 14 November 2007. On that day, Urawa Reds were crowned Asian Champions after winning the AFC Champions League by beating Sepahan of Iran 3-1 on aggregate. What was to follow was at the other end of the spectrum. Leading the J-League with 7 points over their closest rivals with 4 more matches to go, they went on a dismal run of 1 draw and 3 losses and ended up surrendering the crown to Kashima Antlers on the final day. To compound their misery, they had been knocked out of the Emperor’s Cup on 28 November by J-2 side, Ehime FC.
Since then, they have risen to the occasion and had beaten Sepahan 3-1 in the quarterfinals of this tournament on 10 December to set up this dream meeting with one of Europe’s elite.
Still plagued by injury problems, Urawa Reds took to the field against Sepahan without captain Nobuhisa Yamada, Tatsuya Tanaka and influential midfielder Robson Ponte, who is out for a few months at least. However, this match saw the return of Shinji Ono albeit for 17 mins after a long spell away due to injury.
AC Milan
Funnily enough, Milan is also having one of those types of season. Having qualified easily enough to the knockout stage of the Champions League by topping group D comprising of Celtic, Benfica and Shaktar Donetsk with 13 points from a possible 18, they are finding it not so smooth sailing in the Serie A.
In Serie A, Milan is lying in mid-table at 10th spot with statistics of P13 W4 D6 L3 F20 A10 and this is after finishing 4th the previous season. More shocking is that Milan has yet to win at home in 7 matches this season. The only saving grace for them is their away form where they are P6 W4 D1 L1 F17 A5.
Milan’s last match before traveling to Japan was on 4 December when they beat Celtic 1-0 at home in the Champions league group stage. Before that was a 1-1 draw, also at home, against Juventus in the league. Milan’s next match, after the conclusion of this tournament is a home match against Livorno on 16 December.
AC Milan earned the right to represent Europe in this tournament by beating Liverpool 2-1 in the previous Champions League.
Analysis
I think the main question to ask here is how serious is AC Milan taking this tournament? If you believe that they are taking it seriously, then all you have to do is look at the squads of both teams and I’m sure you’re able to draw your own conclusion. With names like Kaka, Seedorf, Maldini, Gattuso, Nesta, Gilardino, Pirlo and Inzhagi, amongst others, I can only see a ‘David & Goliath’ match-up here.
Now you may also ask, how serious is Urawa Reds taking this tournament? Well I think they are taking it seriously. They need a credible performance from this match to atone for their meltdown domestically. Even if they lose here but play well and with heart, it would go a long ways to please their fans and end the football season on less of a sour note.
So it all boils down to how serious is AC Milan. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are taking it seriously, well at least until the final anyway.
That being the case, I’ll have to side with AC Milan, regardless of which side they put out. They should still have enough quality to overcome Urawa Reds and also because Milan seems to get better results when playing away from home this season.
BEST BETTING TIP :
3/10 bet on AC Milan @ 1.401/10 bet on Filippo Inzaghi to score anytime @ 2.20
( Both bets with Bet365 )
