Expect Spain to change their entire team or close to it against Tahiti on Thursday afternoon. While the Tahitians put up a decent showing for most of their 6-1 defeat to Nigeria, there's obviously a bit of a different between Nigeria and Spain, as good as the Super Eagles are. A team of Segunda players would be favored over Tahiti, so Spain's senior B team should fare just fine.
Tahiti gets its big moment
Tahiti doesn't have a professional league and their captain lives in his mother's basement. Good luck trying to find a more unlikely qualifier for a major international tournament.
If you're expecting a record win for Spain ... well, don't expect them to be that mean. La Roja's biggest ever win is a 13-0 thumping of Bulgaria in a friendly back in 1933. Between Spain's fetish for passing in circles for minutes on end and Tahiti's reasonably competent showing against Nigeria, double-digit goals don't seem terribly likely.
Also, they have a guy who's better than Lionel Messi.
Match date/time: Thursday, 3 p.m. ET
We all know who is going to win today's game between Spain and Tahiti. But the odds for Tahiti are the longest I have ever seen for a match and may not come around for years.
Make no mistake, there will be no Tahiti treat today or on any other day in this tournament. However, you need to see the incredibly wild offerings for today's game. The spectrum is so wide, you may never see them at a major international tournament for years.
Every bookmaker understands how lopsided this game will be, and as a result they have dropped their total amount of bet options considerably. For example, there are only 17 betting offerings for this game, whereas the Nigeria-Uruguay tilt three hours later offers 192.
The real entertainment here is seeing that Spain is paying out 1.01 to win the match. That's right. For every $10 you wager on Spain, you will net a grand total of ten cents. Of course, if you are wagering on this game you will have no legitimate options but to look at either following: handicap, correct score, or amount of goals that specific players will score.
William Hill expects the final score to be 7-0, and that is paying out 6.00 right now. But with Nigeria beating the islanders 6-1 on opening day, I fully expect the much more talented and skilled Spaniards to hit the double digit mark. If they don't, it is only because they will give mercy and take the foot off the pedal. It is hard to say how many will be scored, but as a measuring stick the 10-0 is at 9.00.
The match handicaps alone start at the -6 mark and it's at 1.33, something I never thought I'd see in my lifetime. The Spain -8 is at 2.10 while the -9 is at 3.00. Worth a ten dollar bet just for the entertainment value alone.
Just to score in the game Tahiti are paying 5.00. To take a point, Tahiti is listed at an unbelievable 17.00. For the win you ask? Try the astronimical 51.00!
The first line to hit over evens (2.00) in the over total goals section is the over 9.5.
Who will score for Spain? Likely a lot of players. But for the first time ever, the entire Spanish starting 11 are all paying under 1.50 to score anytime during the match. David Villa, Fernando Torres, and Roberto Soldado are all being issued at 3.00 to score a hat-trick.
Although the odds are absolutely unheard of, try out a total goals or handicap pick to at least make it worth watching.
Venue: Maracana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
