EURO 2008 BETTING PICK - PORTUGAL V GERMANY

Euro 2008

2008-06-19 - Portugal vs Germany

A Sports Betting Pick by Cruiser

Analysis:

After resting key players in the defeat to co-hosts Switzerland in their last group match, Luiz Felipe Scolari will bring back his best eleven ahead of this tie with Germany for the quarter-finals at St Jakob-Park in Basel.

Scolari made at least eight changes in the 2-0 defeat to Switzerland in a match which does not affect their position as group winners. Scolari has stated that he will return to the side that managed to beat Turkey and Czech Republic in their first opening two matches.

The focus will definitely be on Cristiano Ronaldo who has been rested and will form a three man partnership with Nuno Gomes with Simao upfront. Also returning will be Deco while Armando Petit and Joao Moutinho will come back into defence.

Then the likes of Ricardo Carvalho, Paulo Ferreira and Jose Bosingwa who plays for Chelsea will make up the back four alongside Pepe, with goalkeeper Ricardo starting in between the post. However the duo of Bosingwa and Ferreira are just a card away from being booked and if they do get a yellow card here today that means they will miss out on a place in the semi-finals if Portugal were to advance here today.

Germany coach Joachim Low will not be allowed any contact with his team as he has been handed a one match ban by UEFA for his spat with Sweden's coach. Low is not allowed to enter the dressing room, tunnel or technical area and must watch from the stands with assistant Hans-Dieter Flick taking on the coaching ROLE.

There are concerns over the availability of two key players ahead of this match as striker Lukas Podolski was forced off in the closing stages with a calf problem while midfielder Torsten Frings broke a rib during the second half but stayed on for the full 90 minutes.

The good news is that Bastian Schweinsteiger is once again available following his one-match ban for being dismissed against Croatia, while Ballack and former Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann is also one match from being suspended if they were to receive another booking.

With regards to past meetings, from the previous 15 meetings between these two teams, Germany have the edge over Portugal with seven victories to Portugal's three. Their last meeting came in the third-place play-off for the 2006 World Cup with Germany winning 3-1. However, Portugal enjoyed a 3-0 success at Euro 2000 thanks to Sergio Conceicao's hat-trick in the group stages some 8 years aho.

Take Portugal and on level ball go for them not to get beaten here.

Cheers and good luck,
Cruiser

The Pick :

BEST BETTING TIP :

Take Portugal to win this match.