Argentina tops Greece to cap perfect group stage

Soccer Betting Lines

06/22/2010 - Polokwane, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Martin Demichelis and Martin Palermo scored late in the second half, helping Argentina complete a perfect run through Group B of the FIFA World Cup with a 2-0 win over Greece on Tuesday at Peter Mokaba Stadium.

Demichelis scored the opener in the 77th minute and the 36-year-old Palermo added his first-ever World Cup goal in the 89th, as Argentina won for the third straight time in as many games to easily finish atop Group B. Greece was eliminated with the loss.

Argentina plays Mexico on Sunday in the round of 16, while South Korea also advanced from Group B with a 2-2 draw against Nigeria on Tuesday, and plays Uruguay on Saturday in the first knockout round.

Argentina dominated possession in the opening 45 minutes, but outside of a few half chances, failed to put Greece under any real pressure.

Sergio Aguero had a decent chance in the 18th minute for Argentina, but Greece goalie Alexandros Tzorvas palmed the ball wide of the left post.

Juan Veron returned to the lineup after missing Argentina's 4-1 win over North Korea and made his presence felt with a 40-yard blast that Tzorvas pushed high in the 19th.

Diego Milito created a good chance for Argentina in the 32nd, but Tzorvas dove to deflect his cross out of danger.

Maxi Rodriguez had an open look from the right side of the area in first-half stoppage time, then Lio Messi followed with a dipping 20-yard shot seconds later, but Tzorvas was able to save both to leave Argentina scoreless at halftime for the first time through three games.

Greece opened the second half with its first shot when Georgios Samaras played down a long pass to avoid Demichelis in the 48th, then curled a ball just wide of the right post.

Clemente Rodriguez drove a pass into the area that Milito was unable to reach, and Tzorvas easily grabbed the ball in the 57th. Clemente Rodriguez then fired wide left one minute later on a long-range shot.

Messi curled a long shot wide right in the 69th, and Mario Bolatti unleashed a bullet into the mid-section of Tzorvas from six yards to waste Argentina's top chance seconds later off a corner kick.

Demichelis ended Argentina's frustrations with under 15 minutes left after he headed an initial shot into Milito, then hammered the deflection home from the edge of the six-yard box.

Messi nearly sealed Argentina's win in the 89th, but Tzorvas pushed his shot wide and Palermo ran onto the rebound and easily slotted inside the right post to overtake manager Diego Maradona as the oldest Argentine player to score in the World Cup.

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SPORTS BETTING: NFL Football Sportsbook Betting

NFL owners, already life's biggest winners, want to try their luck with the lottery.


That was the news out of their meetings last week, where team bosses voted unanimously to allow stamping state and local lottery tickets with franchise logos, if, ahem, any governments wanted to do a deal.

A shocker: Within days the Pats announced they'd be sponsoring the Massachusetts state lottery, the Skins said they'd slap their sticker on Virginia scratch-offs and the Ravens admitted they were talking to Maryland lottery bosses. In all likelihood, it won't be long before every team is a presenting sponsor of scratch-offs or just plain old pick fives. "The change in policy was approved 32-0," said NFL spokesman Greg Aiello. "So you can expect to see more deals soon."

It's a branding opportunity too big for the owners to ignore, and one a couple of dozen baseball franchises have enjoyed for years. The fact the NFL has been slower to act than those slack-brained Seligites is indicative of its complicated relationship with all forms of gambling. Consider this: Last Thursday, as the Pats and the Redskins finalized their new lottery deals, a lawyer representing the NFL argued before Delaware's Supreme Court that the state's newly signed sports betting law should be repealed.

The NFL betting is the face of opposition to sports gambling . And as much as it would like to share that responsibility with other leagues, that's not going to happen as long as more than 40% of all money legally wagered on games is bet on football. That's why the Brewers can do a multi-million dollar deal with a local casino, or the Celtics can make their own pact with the Mass lottery, and the response is, "Sweet, let's play." But when the NFL does it the stakes are higher, and everyone from NPR's Frank Deford to the Associated Press to the guys blogging at Deadspin will line up to play gotcha.

So I asked Aiello, who surely knew there'd be piling on, how the league can rail against being bait for sports bettors, then allow its franchises to be just that for lotteries, the most insidious and addictive form of gambling around. He emailed me this response: "We are not moral crusaders. NFL personnel are permitted to engage in legal forms of gambling, except for betting on NFL games. We are making a distinction here between the spread of gambling on the outcome of our games and supporting state lottery scratch-off games, that have nothing to do with the outcome of our games."

Here's where I should rip him. But, the thing is, he's right. Not to get Obama on you, but this is a complicated, nuanced issue. As much as lotteries are considered a tax on the poor, the NFL isn't a socially obligated government program -- it's just a business. Scratch-off's help the bottom line, sports betting doesn't. Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors … But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal.

Now, it's okay to call the league hypocritical when it releases injury reports, which players have told me only helps bettors. And it's okay to mutter something obscene when the league pretends gambling doesn't help drive TV ratings and fan interest and put money in owners' pockets. But when it supports other forms of gaming? Big Deal. The Bears should put an orange "C" on every deck of cards dealt at Harrah's in Joliet; the Eagles should slap their logo on roulette wheels at the Borgata in Atlantic City; the Dolphins should hold training camp at the El San Juan in Puerto Rico.

Seriously.

The NFL's problem, when it comes to the gambling world, isn't hypocrisy, it's worse: The bosses lack vision. That's why the league is picking unwinnable fights in Delaware and taking pot shots from critics after making smart sponsorship deals. Roger Goodell and his gang are acting and thinking locally rather than globally, which is rare for them, especially compared to their professional (and amateur) counterparts.

The NBA held its All Star game in Las Vegas and David Stern's kingdom didn't crumble (although the town did bring plenty of players to their knees.) I'd say it's 6 to 5 and pick 'em that Lebron will make a road swing through Sin City before his career is over.

Even the NCAA College Football Betting is more progressive on this issue than the NFL. Several years ago Rachel Newman Baker, college sports' gambling czar, opened a dialogue with Vegas bookmakers to learn about how they do business. She's visited Nevada sports books, studied their operations and listened to how they regulate action. Now she knows she can expect a call from bookmakers, who lose money when sports are fixed, if they think something sketchy is going on in NCAA games. She's not in favor of sports betting, but, as she once told me, "I know it's not going away, either."

The NFL can't seem to accept that. And until it can find peace with the idea, it'll get flack, even when it's right.

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