World Cup Betting Free Picks: Denmark vs. Cameroon

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With the NBA season over, World Cup soccer betting will now take center stage at sportsbooks world wide.  We’ll take a look at Saturday’s Group E game between Denmark and Cameroon.  Both teams are off of opening game losses, which makes this a ‘must win’ contest if they hope to advance to the knockout stage.  This game goes at 11:30 AM Eastern from Loftus Versfeld Stadium in Pretoria, South Africa.

Denmark vs. Cameroon
June 19, 11:30 AM Pacific

Both teams lost their opening games, but in drastically different ways.  Cameroon looked lethargic, disorganized and unfocused as they dropped a 1-0 decision to Japan.  The ‘Indomitable Lions’ were more like a LOLcat as their offense looked completely inept, which allowed Japan to pack the box to protect the goal.  This also set up the only goal of the game, scored by Keisuke Honda on a counter.  Cameroon didn’t get their first shot on goal until the 37th minute, and that shot began the counterstrike that culminated in Honda’s goal.

Denmark lost 2-0 to Holland, but showed a lot of toughness as they defended well throughout the first half.  Holland has ridiculous talent and depth on offense, and the game would have been 0-0 at halftime were it not for an ‘own goal’ by Daniel Agger immediately before the break.  This forced Denmark to abandon their tactical approach to the game and become more aggressive looking for an equalizer.  Dirk Kuyt added an insurance goal in the final minutes of play to produce the final margin of victory for the Dutch.   This was a classic example of a final score not reflecting the way a team played, and by all accounts Denmark’s performance has raised their confidence heading into this contest.

In contrast to Denmark’s steady Morten Olsen, there are also some serious questions about Cameroon’s Paul Le Guen.  He’s been on the job for less than a year, and this is his first high profile international coaching gig although he was very successful in France’s Ligue 1 where he led Olympique Lyonnais to three titles.  Some of Le Guen’s decisions can likely be attributed to nerves or inexperience, but there are questions about his tactical approach to the game and ability to maximize his talent.  The most inexplicable move he made in the opening game was playing Inter Milan’s Samuel Eto’o at right back–in other words, taking one of the best finishers in the sport and putting him where both his ability to score and create is severely diminished.  This wold be like Phil Jackson intentionally designing an offense to *minimize* Kobe Bryant’s ability to score.

Although this game is priced competitively, there’s a lot more to like about Denmark and a good deal not to like about Cameroon.  Our only concern is Denmark’s offense, which doesn’t have many world class playmakers.  A draw is a possibility, so we’ll play this on the ‘two way’ line so we’ll get a push if that happens but we think Denmark wins this.

Bet Denmark PK -115 over Cameroon

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