Costa Rica faces the United States this Saturday here in San Jose Costa Rica, in a world cup qualifying match to be played at "Ricardo Saprissa".
I just checked the lines at pinnacle and I was shocked to see the United States as a "favorite" with a line of +150. Costa Rica to win pays +175 and the draw is +200.
My tip is here is to take both Costa Rica to win and the draw option as it is very hard for the United States to walk away from here with a victory, and I cannot stress "hard" enough.
Here is a brief overview of this game.
The United States are already qualified to go to the World Cup so the coach Bruce Arena will be fielding a team of mostly bench players for this game. Starters that will miss this game include: Landon Donovan, Kasey Keller, Reyna, McBride, Ralston, Hedjuk, Berhalter and Armas.
Of the regulars, only Beasley, Pope and Bocanegra will make the trip.
As you can see, the team that the US will field this saturday is no where close to being their "A" team.
The chosen players by Arena are
<TABLE borderColor=black cellPadding=15 width="95%" align=center border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>Los elegidos
Porteros: Kevin Hartman (Los Ángeles Galaxy) y Tim Howard (Manchester United de Inglaterra)
Defensas: Chris Albright (Los Ángeles Galaxy), Wade Barrett (San José Earthquakes), Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham de Inglaterra), Dan Califf (San José Earthquakes), Eddie Lewis (Leeds de Inglaterra), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Lieja de Bélgica), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake), Jonathan Spector (Charlton Athletic de Inglaterra).
Volantes: DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven de Holanda), Ricardo Clark (San José Earthquakes), Bobby Convey (Reading de Inglaterra), Kyle Martino (Columbus Crew), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids).
Delanteros: Brian Ching (San José Earthquakes), Santino Quaranta (D.C. United) y Taylor Twellman (Revolución de Nueva Inglaterra
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
At the same time, Costa Rica will be fielding their regular A team, motivated off victories against Trinidad (2-0) and Panama (3-1) and will be looking for one more point to win the last automatic world cup berth that CONCACAF gets. The team is highly motivated and has been playing better soccer the last few matches.
In other words, this game means alot to Costa Rica and very little to the United States.
Another aspect to take into consideration here is the fact that the game is being played at Ricardo Saprissa, a stadium where, because of the crowd rowdiness makes it difficult for opposing teams to come in and perform well.
One more thing is, this stadium fields an artificial grass that most players here are now accustomed to but is frowned upon by many "more professional leagues" as in thoses where some of the US team members play in.
The United States can win, stranger things have happened, but I find it very hard to believe they can come in, under these circumstances and perform well. Not only are will the US team be made up of "lesser stars" for most it will be the first time they play together. If anything, Costa Rica should be the favorite here.
Tip:
Take Costa Rica to win (+175) and Costa Rica US Draw at (+200)
I just checked the lines at pinnacle and I was shocked to see the United States as a "favorite" with a line of +150. Costa Rica to win pays +175 and the draw is +200.
My tip is here is to take both Costa Rica to win and the draw option as it is very hard for the United States to walk away from here with a victory, and I cannot stress "hard" enough.
Here is a brief overview of this game.
The United States are already qualified to go to the World Cup so the coach Bruce Arena will be fielding a team of mostly bench players for this game. Starters that will miss this game include: Landon Donovan, Kasey Keller, Reyna, McBride, Ralston, Hedjuk, Berhalter and Armas.
Of the regulars, only Beasley, Pope and Bocanegra will make the trip.
As you can see, the team that the US will field this saturday is no where close to being their "A" team.
The chosen players by Arena are
<TABLE borderColor=black cellPadding=15 width="95%" align=center border=1><TBODY><TR><TD>Los elegidos
Porteros: Kevin Hartman (Los Ángeles Galaxy) y Tim Howard (Manchester United de Inglaterra)
Defensas: Chris Albright (Los Ángeles Galaxy), Wade Barrett (San José Earthquakes), Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham de Inglaterra), Dan Califf (San José Earthquakes), Eddie Lewis (Leeds de Inglaterra), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Lieja de Bélgica), Eddie Pope (Real Salt Lake), Jonathan Spector (Charlton Athletic de Inglaterra).
Volantes: DaMarcus Beasley (PSV Eindhoven de Holanda), Ricardo Clark (San José Earthquakes), Bobby Convey (Reading de Inglaterra), Kyle Martino (Columbus Crew), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids).
Delanteros: Brian Ching (San José Earthquakes), Santino Quaranta (D.C. United) y Taylor Twellman (Revolución de Nueva Inglaterra
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
At the same time, Costa Rica will be fielding their regular A team, motivated off victories against Trinidad (2-0) and Panama (3-1) and will be looking for one more point to win the last automatic world cup berth that CONCACAF gets. The team is highly motivated and has been playing better soccer the last few matches.
In other words, this game means alot to Costa Rica and very little to the United States.
Another aspect to take into consideration here is the fact that the game is being played at Ricardo Saprissa, a stadium where, because of the crowd rowdiness makes it difficult for opposing teams to come in and perform well.
One more thing is, this stadium fields an artificial grass that most players here are now accustomed to but is frowned upon by many "more professional leagues" as in thoses where some of the US team members play in.
The United States can win, stranger things have happened, but I find it very hard to believe they can come in, under these circumstances and perform well. Not only are will the US team be made up of "lesser stars" for most it will be the first time they play together. If anything, Costa Rica should be the favorite here.
Tip:
Take Costa Rica to win (+175) and Costa Rica US Draw at (+200)
