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Germany, Spain set for semifinal showdown

Soccer Betting Lines

07/06/2010 - Durban, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger said Spain is the "best team in the world," but also thinks there are "weaknesses" that can be exploited in Wednesday's FIFA World Cup semifinal.

Germany lost to Spain in the Euro 2008 final, and Schweinsteiger admitted the Spaniards "were much better than us back then."

The Germans have evolved into more dynamic, attacking team under boss Joachim Loew and enter the semifinal on the heels of two of the most impressive games in the entire tournament.

Germany hammered England 4-1 in the round of 16 and thrashed Argentina 4-0 in quarterfinals. Despite having the second-youngest team in the tournament, the Germans are easily the highest-scoring team in South Africa with 13 goals.

Although Spain's David Villa leads the event with five goals, his country has just six goals through five matches. Spain won each of its knockout games 1-0 - over Portugal and Paraguay.

Spain coach Vincente del Bosque returned to the praise to Germany, saying the team was "playing better than anyone right now."

Pre-tournament favorite Spain has not been as impressive to this point in the World Cup, but a win against the three-time champion Germans at Moses Mabhida Stadium would send the Spaniards to their first final.

"Germany are a great side," Spanish goalie Iker Casillas said, "so we'll need to work hard and go for it."

Since losing its tournament opener against Switzerland, Spain has won four in a row, with its other wins in the group stage over Honduras and Chile.

Spain has allowed just a single goal in its last four games, in a 2-1 victory over Chile, but will be tested by the new-look Germans.

"They are having a fantastic World Cup," Spain midfielder Andres Iniesta said, "and it's going to be a very exciting game."

Spain emerged as one of the best in the world over the last few years with an abundance of talent and overall solid team play. Defender Gerard Pique thinks the team needs to be more "ruthless" in front of goal, though.

Star striker Fernando Torres has not scored, and has not played 90 minutes in any of his five matches. Torres was pulled in the second half of the squad's knockout games and Del Bosque may have no choice but to sit Torres.

Fernando Llorente and Pedro have both played well in limited action and Spain cannot risk getting another poor showing from Torres against Germany.

Germany has made a habit of scoring early, then piling on goals in the second half throughout the tournament. Another early lead could allow Germany to hit Spain on the counter attack, which it did well against England and Argentina.

Loew will be without one of his most talented men, 20-year-old Thomas Muller, in the semifinals due to accumulated yellows. Piotr Trochowski has moved into Muller's position in his substitute appearances, but Toni Kroos, Mario Gomez, and Cacau are among the options.

Muller has been the brightest young star in South Africa, and Germany has run a lot of play through the young Bayern Munich player. However, Loew will look to continue getting contributions from the position, no matter who plays.

Considering Germany has scored four goals in three of its five games, Loew is confident about finding contributions from the replacement.

In addition, veteran Miroslav Klose also has four goals, including two in the victory over Argentina, and enters the semifinal one goal away from the all- time World Cup goal scoring record held by Brazil's Ronaldo.

Lukas Podolski has a pair of goals, and young Mesut Ozil has been another one of Germany's young stars to emerge in the World Cup spotlight. Ozil scored in the group stage, and has been a huge influence in central midfield along with Schweinsteiger.

"We could end up achieving great things and it's in our own hands," Loew said.

Schweinsteiger, one of the veterans of the team although he is just 25, knows a huge task awaits in the semifinals, but the Germans aren't satisfied yet.

"We're good enough to take the next step now and obviously we want to make the final," Schweinsteiger said. "It goes without saying that, as of now, we want more."

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Mayweather picked to beat De La Hoya
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA -- Golden Boy Oscar De La Hoya and his rival Floyd Mayweather Jr. arrived at the MGM Grand here Wednesday amid the pomp and pandemonium befitting two of the biggest stars in the sport who are about to duke it out for the WBC super welterweight crown this Saturday (Sunday in Manila).

As of Wednesday, MySportsbook.com closed its book with Mayweather a favorite to defeat De La Hoya at -170 (a $100 bet wins $70), while De La Hoya is a +140 underdog (a $100 bet wins $140).

Mayweather arrived at about 11:30 a.m. on a big truck with his face and a big "World's Best Pound-for-Pound" sign scribbled across the vehicle. He was accompanied by his entourage made up of rappers and his training team.

A crowd of close to 3,000 eager fans packed the MGM Grand lobby, with their cameras in tow, all trying to vie for position to get a good angle at Mayweather, who is acknowledged as the world's best fighter pound-for-pound.

Eric Gomez, Golden Boy Promotions vice-president, described the fan turnout as "amazing" and swore he had never seen anything quite like this event.

"The crowd was fantastic. Everybody was just too eager to see the two fighters," said ALA manager Michael Aldeguer, who was among those who waited at the lobby together with his ward Rey "Boom Boom" Bautista and AJ Banal.

De La Hoya made his own grand entrance at the hotel lobby at around 12:30 p.m. accompanied by GBP chief executive officer Richard Schaefer and trainer Freddie Roach.

The same group of fans who trooped to see Mayweather also lingered around to get a close look at De La Hoya, who has been secretly working out at a Las Vegas gym for days after arriving from his main training camp in Puerto Rico.

The golden boy then took part in a closed-door afternoon workout with Bautista and Banal. The two, along with Aldeguer and wife Christine, as well as an HBO crew were the only ones allowed inside the gym.

De La Hoya and Mayweather take part in today's final press conference before the official weigh-in this Friday.

Ring Magazine, the acknowledged bible of boxing, reported in its June 2007 issue that 12 out of 20 boxing experts it interviewed have favored Mayweather to defeat De la Hoya, with only 8 favoring the latter.

But Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao said in a recent interview with The Freeman's Emmanuel Villaruel that De La Hoya will win by unanimous decision over Mayweather.

To visit this online sportsbook got to MySportsbook.com for all your bet on boxing needs.