Euro Betting – Can Bale Carry Wales Past Ronaldo, Portugal?
Wales (+300) vs Portugal (+115), Draw (+200)
Portugal (1-4-0) haven’t won a 90-minute game at Euro 2016, yet they’re one win away from reaching the championship game. Standing in their way is one of the surprise teams of the tournament, Wales (4-0-1), a tiny nation that’s already proved it can slay the Goliaths of the soccer world. Wales and Portugal will meet at the Stade des Lumières in Lyon this Wednesday (July 6, 3:00 PM Eastern).
Portugal drew all three games in the Group Stage, but that was enough to advance to the knockout round. They beat Croatia (1-0) in extra-time during the Round of 16 (in a game which featured zero shots on net through the first 90 minutes), then beat Poland on penalties in the quarterfinals (1-1).
That might not be the most glamorous way to get to the last four, but Portugal will take it. They now have a chance to get to their first Euro final since 2004, when they were upset at home by Greece.
The good news for Portugal is that they’ve been able to survive without Cristiano Ronaldo making a real impact. Apart from the two goals he scored against Hungary, Ronaldo has been almost invisible. A player who’s long performed better for his club than his country, the Real Madrid megastar will have a lot to prove going up against teammate Gareth Bale.
Bale has arguably been the best player in the tournament thus far, leading Wales to four wins in five matches. Bale scored in every game of the Group Stage and set-up the lone tally in a win over Northern Ireland in the Round of 16.
Pitted against heavily favored Belgium in the quarters, Bale was held off the scoresheet, but his teammates came to the rescue as Wales played its best game of the tournament, emerging with a massive 3-1 upset.
The team suffered a huge blow when Aaron Ramsey was given his second yellow of the tournament in the match, however. The Arsenal star and second-best player on the Welsh team is now suspended for the semi-final.
Wales have looked like the better team all tournament, but Portugal have the much stronger roster on paper (especially given the absence of Ramsey). I see a fairly even match playing out. Take the draw over 120 minutes.
Pick: 120 minute draw.
(Photo Credit: Ludovic Péron (Own work) CC BY-SA 3.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.)
Zack is a tour guide whose favorite sports are football, baseball, and golf. He enjoys giving obnoxious commentary during games and hopes to some day write a book about sports. His favorite underdog victory was the Diamondbacks beating the Yankees in game 7 of the World Series.
