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New York was happy to have a break before Saturday’s game. They had played eight matches in a 26 day stretch. “I was just saying to the guys that it doesn’t seem we’re getting any breaks now,” Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio said. “At the moment, we don’t get any breaks from the game itself. Hopefully, we’ll get all those legs when we need them the most. I think it will turn around at some point.” New York picked up two players who could start on Saturday. Venezuelan Jorge Rojas and Argentinean Juan Pietravallo could see time in the midfield. The team is also trying to work out a deal with Venezuelan club Deportivo Italta for defender Gabriel Cichero.

The Los Angeles Galaxy is now tied for second place in the Western Conference with Chivas USA after a 1-1 draw in the SuperClasico. Edson Buddle scored his 11th of the season, tying Landon Donovan for the league lead. “What I like about Edson is that he is an example. Like Landon his work rate is unbelievable.” Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit said, “He works hard without the ball, chasing people, holding the ball, sharp and scoring goals. I think we are all very proud of him. “I think he is ready to be selected to the national team because I think he is doing really, really well.”

Here are the Soccer Betting stats for Saturday’s game. The teams have met 30 times in history. New York has 14 wins while Los Angeles has 12. Four matches have ended in ties. At New York the Red Bulls have had great success winning 10 of the 16 meetings with one draw. Last season New York won 5-4 at home while playing to a draw at Los Angeles. The win earlier this season by New York was the first by a road team in the series since 2004.

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Columbus Crew is a -135 favorite with a total of 2.5 at SBG Global

Columbus is coming off a 2-0 loss to Real Salt Lake last Saturday. The loss ended a four-game unbeaten streak for Columbus. The Crew was shutout for the first time in more than a month. “I just think we didn’t look sharp,” said Crew head coach Sigi Schmid. “We had a couple of opportunities, if Guillermo scores and makes it 1-1, instead of hitting the post; that changes the game. I thought Marshall had a pretty open header, on the corner. If he puts that one in I think the game tips a little bit and we get a little momentum. We needed a shot of adrenaline, and the only way that was going to come was through a goal, and that didn’t happen.”

The Kansas City Wizards are unbeaten in their last four games including a 2-1 win against New York last Thursday. “We’re extremely pleased to get the three points. It puts us right back in the mix. Today was a must-win as far as I was concerned,” Kansas City coach Curt Onalfo said. “… Still, there are times in the game where we are a little too naïve and we give them too much territory and allow them to at least get back into it. We fell asleep, and we got punished. When you fall asleep, Angel is going to punish you.” The win was huge for Kansas City who is now unbeaten over the last month. “It’s been an uphill battle, and we’re at .500 halfway through the season,” said Onalfo. “We need to continue to move up. We need to be positioned well by the last 10 games of the season so we can make a run for sure to make the playoffs and try to get home-field advantage.”

Here are the Soccer Betting stats for Thursday’s game. The teams have met 36 times in history and they have split with each team winning 16 times with 4 ties. At Columbus the Crew has 10 wins, Kansas City has 7 and there have been two draws. Last year the home team won each of the three games. Kansas City has won eight of the last 13 meetings between the two teams overall.

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Los Angeles is a -155 favorite with a total of 3 at SBG Global
Three-way line – Los Angeles -115, Chivas +215, Draw +225

The Los Angeles Galaxy are coming off a 2-1 loss in their last game to the New England Revolution. Landon Donovan was not able to start due to illness but he did enter in the second half and the Galaxy played better but it was not enough. “It is always good to have your best players out there. Obviously Landon is one of the best players we have got so it is good to have him out there. He has been ill for two or three days and he has not even trained so it was impossible for him to start from the word go,” Galaxy star David Beckham said. “When he did come on it changed the game and it set their players back because they know his pace and they know what he can do. It put us on the front foot and gave us for opportunities to create chances.” The problem for the Galaxy recently has been their defense. Los Angeles has given up nine goals in their last three games.

Chivas is coming off a 1-0 against San Jose last Saturday. They scored a dramatic win as Ante Razov put a shot home in the 88th minute. The win vaulted Chivas into a first place tie in the Western Conference. “That’s how our league is. You are always in it. Parity is what they want and certainly I think they’ve got it,” Razov said. “It’s not the greatest record. We know we’re a long way from where we possibly could be once we get all our guys back we’ll just keep plugging away.” The goal by Razov was his 112th in league play which puts him sixth on the league’s all-time list.

Here are the Soccer Betting stats for Thursday’s game. The teams have met 13 times in their history with the Galaxy notching 8 wins. Chivas has won three matches and the teams have tied twice. In “home” matches the Galaxy has won five of the seven meetings. This is the second of three meetings between the two teams this season. The Galaxy won the first match 5-2 as Landon Donovan scored a hat trick.

Last season Chivas won the season series for the first time. Chivas won two matches, Los Angeles won once and one match ended in a draw.

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Jorge Mendes is Ronaldo’s agent and he has reportedly told Manchester United that Ronaldo wants to go to Real Madrid. Ronaldo is set to have ankle surgery in the next few days and is availability for the start of next season is in question. He will not be making the preseason trip for Manchester United that begins in South Africa later this month.

Soccer Betting at SBG Global

In other transfer news, Manchester City is getting tired of waiting for a decision from Barcelona’s Ronaldinho. Manchester City thought they had a deal in place for the Brazilian star but reports now indicate that Ronaldinho is interested in AC Milan and possibly even Chelsea. “We definitely don’t want to be sitting waiting for a decision from Ronaldinho,” City’s executive chairman Garry Cook said, “A mutual decision has to be made. We are setting our own timeline. We’re not going to sit and wait. This is too big a football club for that.”

Another transfer target is Emmanuel Adebayor. AC Milan was thought to be the leading contender but they have pulled out of the race saying they don’t have enough money. Barcelona has put in a couple of bids for Adebayor, the first of which was rejected by Arsenal. Barcelona is trying to rebuild their team after two poor seasons. They have already added Keita and Alves from Sevilla and Pique from Manchester United. Getting Adebayor would be a huge addition.

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Two of the top teams in the Western Conference meet on Thursday night as Real Salt Lake hosts Houston. Real Salt Lake is one of only two unbeaten teams at home this season. Real Salt Lake and Houston have 15 points each, two back of the L.A. Galaxy in the Western Conference. SBG Global reports that early Soccer Betting has the public taking Dynamo on the Road.

Real Salt Lake had their unbeaten streak snapped at five in their last game when they lost to Kansas City 1-0. “It’s hard for us to feel satisfied,” RSL coach Jason Kreis said. “This is another game where you have to feel like you dropped a point. If we’re a little more focused for the last couple of minutes, we pick up a point. That’s happened too often to us this year.”

Houston is coming off a 1-1 draw against Dallas last week. “The game is a sour point for us. I thought we had more than enough chances in the first few minutes to possibly put the game out of reach. We were in good situations and had good chances. To get a tie out of it, we are not happy,” head coach Dominic Kinnear said. “The guys are disappointed, as we should be. At the halfway point [of the season], I don’t think we are getting as many points as we want or need.” One of the problems for Houston has been their defense. They have allowed 19 goals already this season after allowing only 23 all of last year. “You look at our team and what has made us successful the past couple of years. It’s defense,” Brian Ching said. “We have been one of the best defensive, if not the best, defensive team in the league. But now we’ve got guys letting in mistakes. They are making big mistakes and costing us games. It’s the same guys costing us 3-4 games, so it’s disappointing.”

SBG Global Current Line: Real Salt Lake - ½ -105 , Total 2.5 Over -125

Houston will not play for almost three weeks following Thursday’s game. They did not advance in the U.S. Open Cup as they lost Tuesday to the USL-1 Charleston Battery on penalties.

Here are the Soccer Betting stats for Thursday’s game. The two teams have met 7 times in history. Houston has four wins, Real Salt Lake has two wins and the other match ended in a draw. At home, Real Salt Lake is 2-1-1 against Houston. Houston won the season series last year and split the two games in Salt Lake City. Houston has scored one goal or less in nine of their 15 matches overall this season.

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Spain is -.5 goal (+135) with a total of 2.5 under (-150) at SBG Global
Three-way line – Spain +135, Germany +210, Draw +210

The matchups are interesting all across the field in Euro 2008. Germany’s Philip Lahm against Spain’s Sergio Ramos should be interesting and the matchup in goal could decide the game. Spain’s Iker Casillas has been excellent while Germany’s Jens Lehmann has been somewhat shaky. The midfield battle will be fascinating to watch with Germany’s Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger having to deal with offensive talents like Fernando Torres and Xabi Alonso. “I don’t think there’s a clear favorite,” Alonso said. “The teams are pretty close, and anything can happen in a final. (Germany) have a great team with a lot of experience. Two years ago, they had a great World Cup. They changed their coach but have continued on the same line.”

The talent on both sides is excellent and the game should be very exciting. Spain has been saying that just making the final is not enough. “It’s nice to be in the final, but no one remembers the runners-up,” Torres said, “We want to be champions so everyone talks about us at least for the next four years until the next European Championship.”

The last time Spain was in the Soccer Betting Euro final was in 1984 when they lost to France. They have not even made it to another final since. “I hope the best is still to come,” said Torres, “It’s a big a success that Spain is in the final, but we’re not settling for that - we want to be champions.” Spain has not had much success against Germany in the past. They have only one win against the Germans in the last seven competitive matches. “They know how to win tournaments, they know how to play these games and we know we have be careful because they are the favorites,” Torres said.

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The two teams met in group play when Spain routed Russia by a score of 4-1. Since that loss the Russians have turned it on with victories against Greece, Sweden and the Netherlands. One of the biggest reasons for the improved play for Russia has been the return of Andrei Arshavin, who missed the first two games due to suspension.

Spain is -.5 goal (Even) with a total of 2.5 under (-150) at SBG Global
Three-way line – Spain even, Russia +235, Draw +235

Spain has a high powered attack that has outscored teams in Euro 2008 but Russia doesn’t seem fazed by the offense. Russia didn’t back down from the high scoring Netherlands and doesn’t expect to slow down against Spain. “Russia will play their normal way. We don’t play defensive football, we like to attack. But it doesn’t all depend on us. Let’s see how the Spaniards do.” Arshavin said, “Maybe it makes it harder for us that we play such an open kind of football, because our opponent knows how to counterattack and they have some fast players. But we need to play our way instead of adapting to the opposition.” Russia’s head coach Guus Hiddink has his team playing well but they might be without striker Ivan Saenko who has a foot injury.

Spain has been solid throughout Euro 2008. They are coming off a win over Italy on penalties. Goalkeeper Iker Casillas could be on the spot again after denying the Italians. “It’s going to be a beautiful match because these two sides are both committed to attack, they share a football philosophy. Russia have impressed me.”

Both Spain and Russia have won the European Championship in the past but not for a long time. Russia won as the Soviet Union in 1960 and Spain won in 1961. Neither team has won since. The last time the two teams met in tournament action was at Euro 2004 when Spain won 1-0.

The game could come down to which offensive stars produce. The Russians have Arshavin while Spain has Fernando Torres and David Villa. The winner of Thursday’s semifinal match will play Germany for the Euro 2008 title on Sunday.

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Turkey, who came from behind to beat Switzerland and the Czech Republic in the group stage and Croatia in the quarter-finals, appeared to have pulled off another remarkable comeback, but with seconds of normal time remaining left-back Philipp Lahm exchanged passes with Thomas Hitzlsperger before curling the ball past Turkey goalkeeper Rustu Recber to send Germany into raptures and into the Euro 2008 finals.

“It unleashed all that joy. It was my most important goal,” said Philip Lahm, especially with it coming immediately after a major error. “In the moments leading up to 2-2, I certainly looked bad. It happens to me, too.”

With two goals in the final five minutes, the match could have gone either way, but after three stunning comeback victories in a row for Turkey, it was Germany’s day. The changes were all in midfield or attack. Yet Turkey, so sterile for so long against Croatia, started briskly and dangerously.

Germany fielded the same lineup that beat Portugal in the quarterfinals, began uncertainly and lethargically. From the first minute German passes and clearances ended up repeatedly at Turkish feet. After seven minutes, the German defense retreated as Kâzim Kâzim advanced, allowing him to drive a shot at Jens Lehmann. A minute later an error by Philip Lahm, the leftback, allowed Hamit Altintop to run in for a shot that Jens Lehmann blocked. After 13 minutes Kâzim struck the crossbar with a shot.

The Germans managed a brief flurry of pressure in reply, but after 22 minutes the Turks took the lead. Ugur Boral gave Turkey the lead in the 22nd, but Bastian Schweinsteiger equalized in the 26th. Miroslav Klose then scored in the 79th off a feed from Philip Lahm to put the Germans ahead, setting up the thrilling finish.

“Totally crazy feeling,” Loew added. “It was unbelievable. It was a crazy, incredible drama with all these goals in the final minutes.”

Germany, which won Euros in 1972, 1980 and 1996, will play the winner of Thursday’s Spain-Russia semifinal in Vienna, Austria. Sunday’s final game also will be in Vienna. For Turkey, it was the end of a tremendous tournament, its best since making the World Cup semifinals six years ago.

Turkey dominated most of the match despite four suspensions and five injuries, proving its run of extraordinary rallies was no fluke. With a fully fit team, Germany struggled—but advanced to the final for the sixth time

Germany will play the winner of the other semifinal game between Spain vs Russia. The Final of the 2008 Euro Cup will be played between the winner of 1st SF and 2nd SF at Ernst Happel - Vienna, on Sunday, 29th June 2008

Turkey will be without six players and possibly more in Wednesday’s football match. “Of course having lots of injured players is hard but the players who fill their places will give their utmost,” Turkey forward Semih Senturk said. Turkey will be without goalkeeper Volkan Demirel, who was given a red card at the end of Turkey’s win over the Czech Republic and is serving the second game of his two-game suspension. Defender Emre Asik is out and midfielders Tuncay Sanli and Arda Turan are also suspended after picking up two yellow cards each.

In addition to the suspensions, Turkey will be without forward Nihat Kahveci who is out with a thigh injury. He scored twice in the win over the Czechs. Emre Gungor is also out with an injury and Servet Cetin and Tumer Metin are doubtful. The only positive is that captain Emre Belozoglu might have a chance to play but that decision won’t be made until just before the match begins.

Germany is -1.5 goals (+115) with a total of 2.5 under at SBG Global
Three-way line: Germany -300, Turkey +750, Draw +325

Germany is in great shape on the other side. Coach Joachim Loew has everyone at his disposal for Wednesday’s match. Loew’s only decision will be which formation to use. “I’ve always considered 4-4-2 my favorite formation but we did well with 4-5-1 against Portugal,” Loew said, “We just have to find the right way to unlock the Turkish defense. No matter what formation we play, it’s important we get our running patterns and movement off the ball right. If we do that, the question of the formation is secondary.”

Germany has reached either the semifinals or the final of the European Championships a total of seven times. Since Germany unified, the teams have met a total of four times. Turkey won the first two matches by identical 1-0 scores. The third match was a scoreless draw while the fourth match saw Turkey defeat Germany by a score of 2-1 in Istanbul in a friendly. Before unification West Germany dominated Turkey, winning 10 times, losing once and drawing twice.

The key player on Wednesday could be Germany’s Michael Ballack. He has looked like the best player in Euro 2008 at times and could be the difference against Turkey.

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Russia and Spain are two teams leading in the shooting rankings with Spain hitting the target most times, 28, and Russia missing it the most, 44.

Russia has scored in every game of the Euro 2008 so far while Spain could not break down the Italian defense in their last game. Their clean sheet against Italy was Spain’s first while Russia kept two in the Group Stage.

Russia has never been involved in a penalty shoot-out in a major tournament while Spain finally won a penalty shoot out on the 22nd of June: after losing against Belgium in 1986, England in 1996 and South Korea in 2002 in this very same day, “La Roja” have qualified for the semi-final of a major tournament for the first time since 1984.

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Spain have met Russia only four times since the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1990 which Spain won two games by 1-0 and drew one 0-0 before playing them in the opening Group D game and winning 4-1.

In 1964 the Spanish triumphed in their homeland in the final against USSR, 2-1 – their only major title success to date. Roman Pavlyuchenko’s goal in the opening Group D game was the first Russia had scored against Spain in four games.

Russia have kept only three clean sheets in their last eight international games, but conceded just one goal in the last three. In their last nine competitive games, Russia have only failed to score once, at Wembley against England.

Roman Pavlyuchenko has scored five goals in the last seven competitive games. He is also Russia’s top scorer at Euro 2008 with three goals.

The opening 4-1 win versus Russia was Spain’s biggest at a European Championship. They had never previously won a match at this tournament by more than one goal. Spain increased their unbeaten streak to 19 matches with the 0-0 draw against the Italians.

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