World Cup Odds: Postecoglu Thinking Positive
April 14th, 2014 by G WaldorfAnge Postecoglu’s job was maybe not one that lots of people were scrabbling to land. In fact, we’ve heard the phrase ‘poisoned chalice’ more than a couple of times in recent months in connection with the top job in Australian soccer. And, looking at Australia’s World Cup odds, you could be forgiven for thinking that Postecoglu faces an uphill struggle. Certainly, Group B was not the best place for the Socceroos to be drawn. And, certainly, a couple of back-to-back 6-0 defeats weren’t the ideal recent history for the Australia manager to inherit. But Postecoglu has brought real positivity to the role, and we find ourselves looking forward to the World Cup in Brazil and to seeing a new crop of young Socceroos in action.
Postecoglu is the first home-grown Socceroos manager in a long while, and he brings a distinctly Aussie approach to the Australia side. He wants Australia to play an attacking brand of soccer, and he’s confident that the public will get behind a Socceroos side that does that. In his own words: ‘we want all our teams to be attacking teams, and our players like to play that way. That’s been my philosophy – to play attacking, be aggressive.’ We can’t say we disagree with him, and we’re made up about the idea of a young Socceroos squad going to the World Cup in Brazil and playing a fearless brand of soccer, and maybe even coming home with a big scalp.
There might be more modest expectations from the coach, mind you. Looking at Australia’s odds doesn’t make encouraging reading. They’re an $8.00 bet to make it out of the group, and a much shorter $1.25 to finish last in Group B. That’s why Postecoglu is likely looking ahead to the Asian Cup in January, and beyond that, even, to the next World Cup for his Socceroos to make a name for themselves in the late stages of a big international tournament. But, with that commitment to playing attacking soccer comes a couple of bets that are tempting us: you’ll get $1.22 for Australia to bag at least one goal at the World Cup, and the odds of them ending up pointless are longer at $2.20 than for them to sneak at least one point in the group – that’s a $1.62 bet…
Make sure you’ve got all your up-to-date World Cup odds by following the link, and we’ve got all Australia’s World Cup odds, too.
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