San Antonio Spurs vs Miami Heat: NBA Finals Game

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Though the San Antonio Spurs would beg to differ, there's nothing better than a Game 7.
Trailing the Spurs 3-2 and facing elimination, the Miami Heat came storming back from behind in Game 6 to force a series-deciding Game 7.

Leveling the playing field has changed things for both teams.

It's still championship or bust for the Heat, but they're at home, clad with the knowledge that they didn't put their best foot forward by any means in Game 6 and still won. Momentum has shifted.

Could the NBA season really end like this, with the Miami Heat, who looked absolutely invincible for most of the regular season, vanquished at home by the ancient San Antonio Spurs? In Game Five, San Antonio's Manu Ginobili returned from the dead and Danny Green broke Ray Allen's NBA Finals record for made three-pointers while Allen was right there on the opposing bench. The Spurs took a 3-2 series lead and now have two games at Miami's American Airlines Arena to close out the series, clinching their 5th title in franchise history and improving their perfect record in NBA Finals to 5-0.

Well, if the Spurs are going to win a title tonight that means they will have to defeat the Miami Heat two games in a row, something which hasn't happened in a long long time. Not at all during the postseason (granted, the Heat have been having a problem winning two games in a row for the last month).

 Being back at home should also give Miami an advantage tonight. The scary thing about Sunday night's loss for Miami is that it didn't seem like an effort/attention/psychological issue, which is how the Heat's losses during this series have mostly been explained away. The Heat were in the game right up until the final minute, the Spurs' lead was down to one point in the game's third quarter. The Spurs just totally and utterly outplayed the Heat, there's no "we outplayed ourselves" excuse available for Miami's Game Five performance. The San Antonio Spurs were a better team, in fact they looked like the exact kind of team capable of handing the Heat their first back-to-back loss in months.

For the first time all postseason, they are facing a win-or-go-home situation. And for the second time in the last eight years, they've been pushed to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Will the Spurs be able to steal another win on the road and lay claim to their fourth title in the last decade, or will the Heat hand San Antonio's Big Three their first ever Finals loss en route to a second straight title?

There really isn't anything better than a Game 7.


Time: Thursday, June 20, 9 p.m. ET

Where: AmericanAirlines Arena, Miami

Series: Tied 3-3

Nigeria vs Uruguay June 20, 2013

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Nigeria may have opened their tournament with a thumping 6-1 win over minnows Tahiti, but they have not been in the best of form going into the tournament, and will certainly need to improve if they are to overcome Uruguay in their 11pm kickoff tonight.

Despite their big win, they conceded a surprise goal to the small nation, and came in for some criticism for their display.

Where: Arena Fonte Nova

When: 23.00 BST

Their opponents were beaten in a close game by tournament favourites Spain, and have plenty of attacking potential with their world class duo of Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani upfront, who should make Uruguay favourites to win tonight and qualify as group runners-up behind Spain.

Uruguay were disappointing in their first game, and could head for an early exit if they don’t improve tonight, as another win would take Nigeria through to the semi-finals. They will be hoping for more inspiration from hat-trick hero Nnamdi Oduamadi, a promising young player coming through at AC Milan.

Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez is expected to name an unchanged side for tonight’s game, and will expect his team to enjoy more possession than they managed against Spain, who were dominant as expected in terms of keeping the ball.

Spain vs Tahiti June 20, 2013

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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

Italia-Giappone 19-06-2013

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L'Italia gioca col Giappone la seconda partita del girone dopo la vittoria per 2-1 con il Messico grazie ai gol di Pirlo e Balotelli. Gli azzurri affrontano i nipponici per la terza volta nella storia. La prima nel 1936 terminò con una vittoria per 8-0 e l'ultima con un pareggio per 1-1, in un'amichevole del 2001. Il Giappone si è recentemente qualificato ai Mondiali del prossimo anno ed è guidato da Alberto Zaccheroni. La prima partita gli occhi a mandorla guidati dal tecnico di Cesenatico, l'hanno persa 3-0 contro il Brasile. Lo spirito di rivalsa quindi sarà forte con l'Italia. "Abbiamo analizzato pregi e difetti dei nostri avversari - ha spiegato Zaccheroni - il problema è che questa Italia di difetti ne ha pochi. Cercheremo di togliere gli spazi e chiudere le linee di passaggio, l'importante sarà dimostrare di avere personalità".

Italia (4-3-2-1): Buffon; Maggio, Barzagli, Chiellini, De Sciglio; Montolivo, De Rossi, Pirlo; Aquilani, Giaccherini; Balotelli. Allenatore: Cesare Prandelli.

Giappone (4-2-3-1): Kawashima; Uchida, Yoshida, Konno, Nagatomo; Hasebe, Endo; Okazaki, Honda, Kagawa; Maeda. Allenatore: Alberto Zaccheroni.

Il Giappone è allenato dal 2010 dall’italiano Alberto Zaccheroni, ed è stata la prima nazionale a qualificarsi ai mondiali del 2014, grazie a un pareggio contro l’Australia di pochi giorni fa. Negli scorsi tre anni in Giappone, Zaccheroni ha confermato di essere un grande allenatore (in Italia ha allenato Milan, Juventus, Inter, Lazio e Udinese, e prima del 2010 non aveva mai allenato all’estero) e ha provato ad abituare la squadra al calcio internazionale con una serie di amichevoli di alto livello.

Nel 2011 il Giappone ha vinto la Coppa d’Asia in Qatar, vittoria con cui ha ottenuto l’accesso alla Confederations. Attualmente la nazionale giapponese è al 32esimo posto nel ranking FIFA (la classifica delle nazionali di calcio), subito sotto la Nigeria (l’Italia è all’ottavo).

La squadra ha alcuni giocatori di esperienza europea, come il centrocampista del Manchester United Shinji Kagawa, il centrocampista Keisuke Honda e l’esterno dell’Inter Yuto Nagotomo. Un fatto curioso, come ricordavamo nella guida al torneo, è che in Brasile c’è la comunità giapponese all’estero più numerosa del mondo, circa 1,5 milioni di persone, e quindi la nazionale avrà probabilmente un certo sostegno di tifo.

Viceversa, anche i brasiliani sono la comunità straniera più numerosa del Giappone, un paese estremamente chiuso all’emigrazione, con circa 320 mila persone.

Del Giappone attenzione a Kagawa del Manchester United, Honda del Cska Mosca e l'interista Nagatomo. In generale è la velocità l'arma principale dei giapponesi. Prandelli ha già deciso invece di far rifiatare Abate e Marchisio, schierando al loro posto Maggio e Aquilani. Per il resto è la stessa formazione scesa in campo col Messico. L'Italia se dovesse vincere sarebbe qualificata automaticamente alle semifinali della Confederations (leggi il programma) e potrebbe giocarsi l'ultima sfida con il Brasile con un altro spirito. La partita si disputerà nel clima umido di Recife, in uno stadio da 44mila posti nuovo di zecca. La sfida sarà

Brazil 2-0 Mexico June 19, 2013

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90+ JO Brazil 2-0 Mexico June 19, 2013 Final
Mexico has raised their game against a top opponent again but, just like in their game against Italy,it has yet to result in them taking a lead. Mexico has kept Brazil at bay for the most part and even looked lively in attack during the first half, but one moment of brilliance from Neymar has the hosts up 1-0 at halftime of this Confederations Cup tilt.

El Tri started very slow, dropping deep and giving Brazil plenty of space in midfield. That backfired, however, and led to numerous early chances for Brazil. Their goal came in the 23rd minute on a great strike from Brazil's biggest star. Dani Alves set up the goal with a dangerous cross into the box that 'Maza' Francisco Rodriguez got a touch to, but couldn't clear completely away from danger. That set up Neymar stepping up and drilling a volley past Jose Corona from the edge of the box to give his team the lead.

Mexico was much better after the goal and perhaps even the better side in the last 20 minutes of the first half. They let Hulk and Neymar break away from them on a couple of dangerous-looking counters, but always recovered well and didn't allow Brazil to do much in the way of building sustained attacks at the end of the half.


Brazil could qualify for the destructive leg with a victory. They have collected 3 points, therefore another 3 would guarantee Brazil is going to complete leastways 2nd in Group A. Selecao looked excellent to Japan, and Luiz Felipe Scolari is going to want to maintain this drive to Mexico.

That is the best Brazil have just seen under Scolari, and that tourney can go a long way to get the team prepare for the World Cup.

Mexico just requires to win, leg. They have won only one time in 6 World Cup qualifying games. El Tri looked very monotonous in their 2-1 loss againist Italy in their 1st game of the tourney.

A loss would not accuse Mexico to sifting. However they would require many things to go right to make it to the destructive leg.

Mexico have sufficient capability to have achieve at the World Cup. Currently, Mexico players look non-sure of themselves and irregular on the field.

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Despite their valiant effort, Mexico kicked off their Confederations Cup campaign with a loss against Italy on Sunday. While a repeat performance would be mildly encouraging, it could also mean their exit from Confederations Cup. Brazil, who comfortably defeated Japan 3-0 in their opener, will like their chances to sink El Tri and potentially dump them out of the tournament, pending the result of Italy-Japan.

Brazil played with Neymar underneath Fred in their first match and the results were encouraging, with Fred setting up Brazil's biggest star for a fantastic 20-yard opening goal. The hosts never looked back after that and never looked to be under too much of a threat from Japan. Mexico entertained in their 2-1 loss to Italy, but were ultimately outclassed.

El Tri tend to bring their best against the world's top sides, but it's tough to see them having much of an answer for Brazil. There simply isn't a single aspect of the game in which they match up well, and it will probably take numerous bad mistakes from the home side for Mexico to avoid defeat.

Match date/time: Wednesday, 3 p.m. ET

Venue: Casteao, Fortaleza, Brazil