2010 World Cup: Ivory Coast vs. North Korea Odds & Prediction: June 25th 2010

In what will most likely amount to be the final World Cup betting fixture for both teams, the Ivory Coast and North Korea will duke it out in Group G action on Friday morning in Nelspruit.
CLICK HERE TO OPEN A BETTING ACCOUNT AT BETUS

North Korea knows that its World Cup is finished and will be looking to salvage a point from the festivities to avoid finishing dead last amongst the 32 teams in the tournament. With the Portuguese already holding four points, there is no mathematical way out of the group for the North Koreans.Math isn’t exactly on the side of the Ivory Coast either.

Les Elephants are only three points behind Portugal for the final spot in the second round of this tournament out of the “Group of Death,” but making up those three points and the goal differential is virtually impossible. Ivory Coast and Brazil need to combine to post wins of nine goals or more to get Les Elephants into the knockout rounds.

North Korea vs. Ivory Coast
Game Date/Time: Friday, June 25th, 10:00 AM ET
Game Location: Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, South Africa
TV/Radio Broadcast: ESPN2, ESPN360, XM

World Cup Odds: Ivory Coast -260 -1.5 -110 vs. North Korea +700 +1.5 -110: Draw +350: Total 2.5 over -125 2.5 under +105

For the Ivory Coast, only scoring one goal in two matches wasn’t something that was totally unexpected, especially considering that those contests were against Brazil and Portugal. However, the reality is that these efforts just haven’t been enough to stake a claim to a bid in the second round of this tournament. F Didier Drogba is the goal scorer for Les Elephants, just as he was the main offensive threat in the World Cup in Germany in 2006. The Chelsea man is going to want to put on a heck of a show in South Africa for his home nation against a team that has already proven to have an incredibly weak defense. That defense ultimately conceded six goals in a span of less than 40 minutes against Portugal to mathematically end its World Cup.

North Korea was completely outclassed and overmatched for that entire 90 minutes and perhaps were lucky not to end up losing by more goals, particularly in the first half. As one of the lowest ranked teams according to FIFA in this tournament, the North Koreans are simply thrilled to be here, and even snaring a point would be a tremendous triumph.

World Cup Insider Tip: Ivory Coast won its final match in the group stage in the last World Cup against Serbia to salvage three points from the ’06 “Group of Death” as well.And the exact same thing will happen on Friday. Les Elephants know that they aren’t going to get into the next round, but just as we saw with fellow African nations, Algeria, Nigeria, and South Africa, the Ivory Coast is going to put forth the effort to try to grab three points, if for no other reason, to excite the host continent and build towards the future.

Ivory Coast is the play over North Korea in this World Cup betting duel.
My World Cup Betting Prediction: Ivory Coast -1.5
Source: BetUS Locker Room Featured on: Handicapperspicks.com

Related posts:

1. 2010 World Cup Odds: South Africa vs. Mexico Prediction: June 11th 2010
2. 2010 World Cup Betting Lines To Win Group B – World Cup Predictions
3. 2010 World Cup Betting: Who Will Win The Golden Boot?