England blasts Argentina, books spot in quarterfinals

Soccer Betting Lines

09/17/2007 - Chengdu, China (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - England booked a spot in the quarterfinals on Monday as Kelly Smith scored twice in a 6-1 triumph over Argentina.

England advances to the final eight for the second time in as many appearances, and will likely play either the United States or North Korea on Saturday. Germany moves on as the top team in Group A after beating Japan 2-0 on Monday.

An own goal by Eva Gonzalez was followed by a goal from Jill Scott as England started well in the first half. Argentina's Catalina Perez picked up her second yellow card early in the second half, and Fara Williams converted a penalty kick to make it a three-goal game.

Gonzalez atoned for her earlier mistake by scoring Argentina's lone goal of the competition from a free kick, but England answered back with two goals from Smith before Vicky Exley converted from the spot with minutes to play.

Argentina got off to another terrible start in the opening 10 minutes, with defensive miscues and goalkeeping errors once again hurting the South American team.

Casey Stoney lobbed a cross into the box from midfield in the ninth minute that was intended for Smith. The ball was hit a little strong and went past Smith, and Gonzalez tried to head the ball back to the keeper. However, she ended up putting the ball into the upper left corner past the keeper for a 1-0 England lead.

It didn't take long for England to increase its advantage with a goal scored by one of its own players. One minute later, a loose ball bounced out to Scott 35 yards from goal. She knocked it back into the box and it skipped through traffic and inside the right post. The shot did not have a lot on it but keeper Romina Ferro reacted way too late and another goalkeeping blunder cost Argentina.

England kept the pressure on and nearly took a three-goal lead five minutes later.

Eniola Aluko took a pass inside the box and turned quickly before firing a shot off the crossbar, and Rachel Yankey drove a dangerous cross through the face of goal that Faye White just missed with a sliding effort at the back post.

Smith then had two chances to further the England advantage as she hit a strong left-footed shot from the right just wide of the near post, and then blasted a rebound off of a defender that was headed for the lower right corner, only to be denied by a fine diving stop by the keeper.

The second half started off in the same way, with England looking for more goals.

Yankey ripped a hard shot from the left that was tipped over the net, but things got worse for Argentina in the 49th minute.

Smith beat her defender and carried the ball into the box on the left. Perez picked up a yellow card at the end of the first half, and then was hit with her second as she pulled down Smith inside the box to give England a penalty kick and end her day early.

Williams then stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way, putting her shot low into the left corner.

Argentina then tallied its first goal of the tournament with 30 minutes to play. England once again had trouble dealing with a free kick as Gonzalez smacked a curling right-footed shot inside the right post, but England responded quickly with another goal.

Yankey blew past her defender on the left and carried the ball to the end line. She then slipped a pass to Smith, who redirected it past the keeper from a few yards out.

Another keeper error lead to England's fifth goal as Yankey's long range shot was blocked by Ferro, but she spilled an easy rebound that Smith knocked home for her fourth goal of the tournament.

Exley then capped the scoring minutes before time with her first goal of the tournament, knocking a penalty kick of her own past Ferro.

Argentina exits the World Cup having lost all three of its matches by a combined 18-1 score, while England will move forward hoping to make its first ever trip to the semifinals with a win on Saturday.

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Sportsbooks to bet on football

Recently I had an email debate with an angry reader who said I did not understand "the science of oddsmaking", as he called it.

He said I was wrong for suggesting oddsmakers care about who wins or loses games.

"Oddsmakers only care about splitting the betting public 50/50 on both sides of the line and keeping the commission (a.k.a. juice)," he wrote.

He might have been right about not understanding "the science of oddsmaking". After all, I'm not an oddsmaker. That said, I stick to my assertion that oddsmakers (a.k.a. sportbooks) often do care about who wins games.

Granted, as a general rule, sportsbooks try to balance their action so that they're not exposed to big losses. However, there are times when this is difficult to pull off, regardless of how much a line has moved. There are also times when that general rule is ignored and a book pursues risk.

Generally speaking, it's safe to say the books in Vegas are risk-adverse. Unlike in the past when the wise guys ruled the town, Vegas is now corporate and the goal of most casinos is to make as much money as possible with as little risk as possible.

Thus, Vegas sportsbooks try everything in their power to balance the action. They're satisfied simply collecting the juice. But these profits are small, especially compared to the take from other casino games, namely slot machines.

Because the profits at Vegas sportsbooks are so small, you could argue that many casinos operate sportsbooks simply as a novelty to keep the tourists happy.

With a growing aversion to risk, it should come as no surprise that Vegas bookmakers have been panicking this NFL season.

Despite huge pointspreads, a disproportionate percentage of bettors are still laying their money on favorites like the Eagles, Colts, Pats and Vikings rather than the dogs (a common trend for the largely recreational bettors that visit Vegas).

And much to the dismay of the books, those favorites are finding ways to cover the thick chalk. In fact, prior to Week 7, the four teams listed above are a combined 16-2-2 (88 percent) against the spread. (The tables turned dramatically in Week 7, but more on that later.)

The result has been an early-season beating for the books, and a bonanza for bettors.

While Vegas increasingly hates risk, it's no longer a major player in the sports betting world. Most of the betting action now takes place offshore where sportsbooks are not as obsessed about balance. In fact, some books encourage exposure to risk because the rewards can be so much bigger.

Consider MySportsbook.com. On its website, the book has odds pages which actually display the amount of action it's getting on games. In other words, you can see how much action the book is taking on both sides of a pointspread, moneyline or over/under.

One look at these numbers and it's obvious MySportsbook.com does not balance every game. In fact, far from it.

Take last weekend's matchup between St. Louis and Miami. By game time on Sunday, 83 percent of the betting action at MySportsbook.com was on the Rams; only 17 percent was on Miami.

What's interesting is that MySportsbook.com opened the pointspread with Miami at +6 1/2. By game time, the spread had lowered to +5.

That goes contrary to the balancing theory. If MySportsbook.com had wanted to balance the action, it would have given Miami more points; instead, it took away 1 1/2. World Series odds are now up as well.

MySportsbook.com exposed itself to even more to risk, and rolled the dice on the underdog Dolphins. Why? I contacted a representative with the book to find out. His answer was simple.

"The line moved early based on 'smart money' from sharp players," said Jeff Gilroy, a spokesperson for the book. "We also knew from early in the week that we would need Miami, therefore (we dropped) the spread to encourage Rams money.

"At the end of the day, we liked the home team."

So the conclusion is this: MySportsbook.com respected the sharp action, and gambled that the sharp bettors had a better take on the game than the recreational bettors, who were hammering the visiting Rams.

In the end, the gamble paid off. Miami, desperate for a win in front of its home fans, pounded the overrated Rams, who are terrible on the road and even worse on grass. Final score: 31-14 Fish.

MySportsbook.com was also heavily exposed on numerous favorites in Week 7, including Philadelphia, Seattle and Denver. All three failed to cover.

The fact that sportsbooks are exposed to risk on certain games is really nothing new. The fact, that Sportsbook.com is willing to show the public where it's exposed is intriguing.

Armed with this type of information, bettors can make more educated wagers. They can get an idea where the sharp money is going and conversely where the public money is headed.

MySportsbook.com is opening up its cashbox, letting bettors look inside and challenging them to take their best shot at grabbing the cash.

To visit this online football betting got to MySportsbook.com for all your football betting odds needs. Mysportsbook.com online sportsbook accepts Visa and Mastercard credit cards.