World champion Japan overpriced for women`s football gold

Women`s football has the proud honour of kicking off the London 2012 Olympic Games, with each of the 12 teams in action on Wednesday 25 July 2012, including Team GB.

The host nation tackles New Zealand at Cardiff`s Millennium Stadium in the opening game of the tournament and there are high hopes that Team GB will get off to a winning start.

Bookmakers have installed Team GB as the 4-9 match favourite and, while the home side is entitled to be odds on to defeat the Football Ferns, the market is just the first example of thousands you will see during the London 2012 Olympic Games in which British athletes are under their true odds.

New Zealand and England - Team GB is predominantly English - played each other during the FIFA Women`s World Cup Germany 2011, with the Football Ferns leading from the 18th minute to the 63rd before the English scored twice to win 2-1.

There is no way that Team GB represents value at 4-9 and shorter, with their true odds somewhere in the region of 4-6. The home team is likely to win but invest your money elsewhere, namely on Japan to take out the gold medal.

The tournament betting market does not make a great deal of sense to the impartial observer. Japan won the FIFA Women`s World Cup Germany 2011, bouncing back from losing 1-2 to England in the group phase to beat the Germans, Swedes and Americans in the knockout rounds, but bookmakers rate the Asian side below the United States of America and Brazil.

There was a lot to like about how Japan progressed through FIFA Women`s World Cup Germany 2011. The Nadeshiko accounted for the host nation in the quarter-finals, substitute Karina Maruyama`s 108th-minute goal winning the tie in extra time. Then it crushed previously perfect Sweden 3-1 in the semis before getting the better of the Americans on penalties in the final despite being reduced to 10 players late on.

All 14 Japan players who took part in the FIFA Women`s World Cup Germany 2011 final have made it to the London 2012 Olympic Games, for which the Nadeshiko qualified without losing a match, beating Australia in the process.

The pedigree of the United States of America in women`s football is such that its London 2012 Olympic Games side merits favouritism but it should not be 9-4 compared to Japan at 5-1, with Brazil stuck in the middle at 4-1.

With Germany absent because of its loss to Japan on home soil 12 months ago, the Nadeshiko should be the London 2012 Olympic Games second favourite, realistically at around the 3-1 mark. The 5-1 that is available is well over the odds.

It is important to note significant difference between the men`s football and the women`s football competitions in the London 2012 Olympic Games, one that you need to consider before placing a bet on one of the games or titles.

Unlike the men`s football tournament, the women`s football competition has no age restrictions. The women`s teams are the best of the best and, although the inclusion of Team GB throws something of a spanner in the works, it is possible to compare form from other major events very easily.

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25/07/2012     © Frixo 2024