View Brazil/Costa Rica Best Odds
This game presents yet another opportunity for the population of the planet to view Brazil. The Samba Boys have already secured their position in the tournament’s last sixteen, and only barring a huge defeat have also earned themselves first place in Group C. For Costa Rica though, one point will guarantee a repeat of their 1990 World Cup, where against all odds they qualified for the second phase.
Costa Rica (9/1 to win this game) will have been buoyed by their performance in their previous game against Turkey. Being 1-0 down for most of the second half, they pressurised the Turks and eventually dramatically equalised with just a few minutes to spare. That display from the ‘Ticos’ showed plenty of character and spirit, and the Central American side will look to carry this through to their final game versus Brazil.
The Costa Ricans made life extremely tough for the Turks as they played with much aggression that clearly unsettled the Turkish midfield. The defence by and large, stood firm against the Turkish threat and kept opposition chances down to a minimum. The twisting runs of the left-sided Carlos Castro were of encouragement to the Ticos as he often caused problems.
Also, both the China and the Turkey games proved that the Costa Ricans are well capable of applying attacking pressure and creating numerous chances. In fact, in these games Costa Rica had a total of twelve shots on target whilst their collective opposition could only manage seven. If Costa Rica can maintain all of these plus points for the final group game then they may have a chance.
However, Costa Rica have yet to really dominate a game. The other main threat to a Costa Rican result in this game is the simple fact that they play a Brazil side growing in confidence and oozing class. Although the side in Yellow have already secured their qualification to Phase 2 and will not want to pick up injuries or suspensions, they will still be eager to maintain the momentum of improvement that has occurred to Scolari’s side.
Brazil, have looked probably the best side in the tournament so far, as they were magnificent in every department against a Turkey side who performed very well on the day. The South Americans then demolished China 4-0. What made this performance so impressive was that the Brazilians always looked as if they were cruising but with the added ability to step up a gear sporadically and carve through the Chinese defence at free will.
If Brazil step off the gas, because of their assured Phase 2 status, then Costa Rica have an improved chance of gaining a point. However, if Scolari sends his team out to continue in this game as they finished the last, which is the most likely scenario given the professionalism of Scolari, there would appear to be very little that the Costa Ricans can do to prevent a win against them.
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