World Cup Betting Odds: Japan and Greece play on Thursday in Group C action in a must-win match for both teams. The match being aired by ESPN has Japan listed as a slight favorite. Both teams lost their openers but at least Japan looked decent in its loss. The Samurai Blue dropped a 2-1 decision to Ivory Coast while Greece was routed 3-0 by Colombia. Here is a look at this match between Japan and Greece and World Cup picks.
Japan +125, Greece +220, Draw +240, total 2.5 under
The money line has Japan at -155 and Greece at +130.
Japan Blows Lead to Lose Opener
It was looking good for Japan in their opener against Ivory Coast but they gave up two second half goals to lose 2-1. The Japanese side got a nice start as Keisuke Honda scored and they probably should have led 2-0 but they couldn’t convert another good chance and the missed opportunity by Atsuto Uchida came back to haunt them. The team started Makoto Hasebe in the midfield and he may not have been totally ready after coming back from injury. “I didn’t think we were able to play as quickly as we normally play and needed to do,” Japan coach Alberto Zaccheroni said. “We really have to take stock of the situation rather quickly.”
Greece Lacks Confidence
There was not much to like about Greece in their opener as they were routed 3-0 by Colombia. If they drop this game on Thursday they can forget about any chance of making it out of the group. Normally the Greek team plays good defense but that was not the case in the opener and the offense was poor as usual. Coach Fernando Santos may not have any answers going forward. The team had only two chances to score in the first half and not many more in the second half.
World Cup Picks
Neither one of these teams is likely to advance so this could be a dull, low scoring contest. I will take the under in this match on Thursday.
