It is semi-final day in the men’s football at the Olympic Games in Rio on Wednesday which means we are set for plenty of nerves, tension, drama and passion as the four sides remaining in the tournament look to secure a medal and the right to play for gold.
Two of football’s powerhouses have made it into the semi-finals in Brazil and Germany but don’t worry Brazil fans, you’re not facing another whooping from them this time as the two are in different semis. Honduras have the honour of taking on Brazil at the Maracana while Nigeria are Germany’s opponents.
Brazil vs Honduras
If there wasn’t enough pressure on Brazil as it was the demise of their women’s team on Tuesday piled even more onto them and we saw earlier in the tournament that they struggled to handle it. Honduras now have nothing to lose. They are massive outsiders for this match but have two bites at getting Olympic medals so they should be full of freedom and confidence.
Brazil struggled in the early days of this tournament but in their last two matches they have scored six goals and come through nicely. Honduras have already held Argentina in this tournament so they can’t be underestimated, not that a huge crowd will let Brazil do that.
Nigeria vs Germany
Nigeria have cruised through this tournament so far with the only match they’ve not won being against Colombia in their final group match when they had the group well and truly won. Germany drew their first two matches but always knew that would be enough given that they played Fiji in their final group match.
Germany’s destruction of Portugal in the quarter final was ominous and made them genuine title contenders here while Nigeria showed they weren’t derailed by that group loss when they took care of a capable Demark side to reach this semi-final.
Betting
I’m already on Nigeria at a nice price for this match off the back of taking them to win the tournament outright. They will bring in the place money if they win this match so I’ll leave the second semi-final alone. I was tempted by over 2.5 goals but I need a bigger price to get involved given that this is a semi.
The other match does provide a betting interest though. Brazil are yet to concede a goal in this tournament and with the amount of possession they are likely to enjoy against Honduras it would be a surprise if they don’t keep another here.
As well as Honduras have done to make it this far it is hard to see them overcoming Brazil at a packed out Maracana Stadium. Brazil are understandably short to win the match and handicaps in semi-finals aren’t for me so the best bet could be for the hosts to win to nil, something they’ve done in their last two matches.
Tips
WON – Back Brazil to win to nil for a 4/10 stake at 1.73 with Coral
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