World Cup Betting: Brazil vs. Germany

The 2014 World Cup has been going on for what seems like forever and now we’re down to the final four teams. On Tuesday the first of two semifinal games will take place as Brazil and Germany go mano a mano. Brazil won Group A while Germany won Group G. The winner of this contest will face the winner of the Netherlands/Argentina game to decide the World Cup champion.

Brazil finally played a good game in a 2-1 victory over Columbia last time out. Before that they had mostly been sleepwalking through the tournament looking listless and disorganized on both ends of the field. Even so, there were issues–the goals were scored by two defenders and while that might work against an aggressive Columbia team it could be trouble against the methodical Germans. Making matters worse for Brazil–they’ll be without arguably their two best players. Neymar was injured in the win over Columbia and is almost certainly out for the rest of the tournament. In addition team captain Thiago Silva will ride the pine after picking up his second yellow card last time out. They will get defensive midfielder Luis Gustavo back after a yellow card suspension.

Germany is back in the semifinals for the fourth consecutive World Cup having beaten France 1-0 in the quarterfinals. Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was the star of that game and could make the difference against a Brazil side that is somewhat erratic and careless with their playmaking. The Germans will have all hands on deck for this match with no injured or suspended players and that gives coach Joachim Low a ton of options.

Brazil will obviously have home field advantage but as noted above Germany is no stranger to pressure games in the World Cup. Confidence and poise will be no issue with this experienced side–in fact, the rabid home fans in Brazil could be an advantage as there is a lot of pressure on the home team to perform. Germany has the better defense, the better coaching and faces a Brazil team without a couple of key contributors in Neymar and Silva. A very good chance that this one goes to penalty kicks and that’s how we’ll bet it.

BET BRAZIL/GERMANY DRAW +220