Finland is one of the members of the original big seven. The Fins are ranked fourth in the world, according to the IIHF rankings. Finland finished the 2010 Olympics in Canada with the Bronze Medal. Also in 2010, at the World Championships that took place in Germany, Finland finished in 6th place. A few notable names for the Finland team include Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne. All but four of their players for the 2010 Olympics played on a team in the National Hockey League. Jukka Jalonen is the head coach of Team Finland.

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Team Denmark is currently ranked 13th in the world, and their highest ranking of all time was 12th, back in 2007. Denmark finished 8th back in the World Championships in 2010. Team Denmark has never qualified to play in the Winter Olympic games. Only three current players on Team Denmark compete in the National Hockey League: Peter Regin, Frans Nielsen and Phillip Larsen.

This game unfortunately will probably not be real close. Team Finland should run away with this. Odds makers have placed them as the huge favorite in this game. The best betting odds that you will find are probably the double puck line, which places Finland -2.5. For that, if you wager Finland -2.5, you can get -140, while Denmark +2.5 is at +100. We are betting Finland -2.5, as we feel they will win this game easily.

While most fans view the Japan vs Denmark game at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg on June 24 to be for second place, one of these teams could actually win group E with a little luck. Both teams come into the match tied for second place with three points each while Holland leads the group with six and Cameroon sits in last place with none.

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If Denmark or Japan win and Holland is upset by Cameroon, the winner of this game will be tied for first place. However, Holland is sitting with a goal difference of plus 3, while Japan is even and Denmark is at minus 1. This means the goal difference would have to be eradicated for Holland to be knocked off the top of the group, but anything’s possible in football. Holland would clinch first place with a single point against Cameroon.

A draw in this game would see Japan go through to the next round because of the goal difference, so Denmark has to win to advance. But the news isn’t good in the Danish camp as it’s possible that striker Nicklas Bendtner will miss the match due to a groin injury while defender Simon Kjaer is suspended for the game due to two yellow cards.

On the plus side, Denmark has made it to the second round in their previous three trips to the world Cup and has a good record against Asian teams, winning 10, drawing three, and losing just one. They will be going into the game with some confidence after beating Cameroon 2-1 in their last game, which was a huge improvement over their 2-0 loss to Holland in their opener. On the other hand, Japan has only one win against a European team in their six World Cup games against them.

Japan won their first World cup game on foreign soil with a 1-0 win over Cameroon in their first match, but then lost a close 1-0 decision to Holland. Japanese goaltenders have had a problem handling long shots recently and look for Denmark to shoot from a distance.

Winger Dennis Rommedahl is playing well for Denmark and he can still put the ball in the net, and he may have to if Bendter is out. He’s also adept at setting up his teammates for scoring chances. Japan will be relying on 26-year-old midfielder and captain Makoto Hasebe to inspire his team. He’s a good tackler and also has fine playmaking skills. Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen is also in fine form as is Japanese counterpart Yasuhito Endo.

Odds and Betting Tips

History isn’t on Japan’s side as they’ve only scored more than one goal in two of their total 12 World Cup games and have never won a match when letting in a goal. However, they don’t have to win this one and should be able to hang on with a 1-1 draw. A bet on a draw pays 3.30 (+230, 23/10) at Bodog (US friendly).

The teams have played each other just once before with Denmark winning 3-2. Ladbrokes has Denmark favoured in this game with their odds of winning set at 5/4. A Japanese victory is listed at 47/20, while the odds of a draw are 9/4.

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Stromberg’s World Cup Preview – GROUP E

1. Netherlands 1.65
2. Cameroon 4.20
3. Japan 15.00
4. Denmark 5.50

• Go through: Netherlands/Cameroon

• My best bet: Cameroon go through

Netherlands are without doubt the clear group favourites and are almost a certainty to go onto the last 16. They qualified for the World Cup easily and possess a wealth of attacking options in Robben, Van Persie and Sneijder. Coach van Mawrijk has a very talented group of players at his disposal and hopefully can find the right balance defensively. The only problem they may face is with injuries as their star players are prone to them. Will this happen at this World Cup?

Cameroon is led by Le Guen and he has created a team with good moral and spirit. They have a strong midfield and they will look to their star player Samuel Eto’o to score their goals. They have a very reassuring goalkeeper in Kameni though and they should have enough to get through the group stage.

Denmark were a surprise package that managed to top their group which included Portugal. They work hard for each other and will be hard to break down. They lack any real super stars and it’s hard to see where a piece of magic or a vital goal will come from. Can Nicklas Bendtner be their hero?

Japan are expected to do well by their own fans but I seriously doubt this. They are very well organized but similar to Denmark, lack a creative spark or goalscorer to get them through to the next stage. They play intricate football but may come unstuck in set pieces where they lack serious aerial ability and power.

Venue: Tshwane/Pretoria, South Africa

The fourth match in Group E is to kick off on June the 19th at 20:30 local time in Pretoria, and sees Cameroon meet Denmark.

Whilst very different in culture and football style, the teams here are seen as pretty evenly matched. Denmark seem to be very slightly favoured by the bookmakers, though you can get 6/4 on either team to win from most bookmakers, Expekt put Cameroon slightly further out and offer the best price on them at 7/4. This isn’t a bad bet considering that the teams are close in ability and expectation, and yet Cameroon have the African advantage. For US players, Sportsbook.com offers the best odds and most betting alternatives.

A draw here will get you 23/10, the best price on offer, from Ladbrokes – most bookmakers offer 2/1. Again, this is quite a good price considering there isn’t much to suggest either team has this game in the bag. In the correct score market, a 1-1 draw is the favourite outcome, with Bodog (US Friendly) offering 11/2, whereas a 0-0 draw will get you 7/1.

1-0 to Denmark is the second favourite scoreline in most books, and it will fetch you 13/2, again Bodog offer the best price here. 1-0 to Cameroon is actually at 6/1 with Bodog who are one of a couple of bookmakers who seem to rate Cameroon over Denmark, but Victor Chandler will give you 13/2 on this.

William Hill already offer first goal scorer odds for the group stage games, and for this match the joint favourites are Samuel Eto’o, Rajko Lekic, Nicklas Bendtner and Jon Dahl Tomasson – all offered at 5/1 with William Hill.

Prediction

Here is a game that could easily go either way, and one of the few matches in this round that is difficult to call. On the one hand the Danes have some good, solid players and a good if not amazing level of skill. On the other, Cameroon have a bit of a tradition of being dark horses that can upset groups, and they do have the advantage of a little more support and a better acclimatisation in South Africa. I think there will be goals, but in this case I am going with the bookies – a 1-1 draw. This will fetch you 11/2 on the correct score market or 2/1 just for the draw.

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Parreira and his players all seem to be in a confident mood heading into the game against Denmark and he said the squad is ready to take on anybody in the world without any fear. He said the team respects all of its opponents, but doesn’t fear them. He feels anything can happen during a game, no matter who’s favoured and that his squad is steadily improving with every game, especially their goal scoring.

However, for some reason South Africa has traditionally struggled against European teams, so the manager feels a win against Denmark is important as it will give the team an extra boost of confidence heading into the World Cup.

Denmark appears to be ready for the challenge as the squad has been training in South Africa for a while now as they got there early to get used to the conditions. They have been having some trouble though, as the altitude takes a bit of getting used to and they have also complained about the lightness of the official FIFA World Cup ball, saying it’s hard to control. They also lost a warm up game 1-0 against Australia.

However, manager Morten Olsen stated the players still have plenty of time to get used to both the playing conditions and the balls and that all teams must face the same adversity. Even though Denmark enjoyed the majority of possession against Australia, they had trouble penetrating inside the box. Olsen said he’d rather have goals than possession as it’s the final score that counts in football.

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Denmark will have one more chance to get used to everything in a game situation when they take on South Africa and it will afford Olsen a final chance to pick his starting 11 for the World Cup. However, there are some injuries in the squad as Thomas Kahlenberg is out, along with Jon Dahl Tomasson. Goalkeeper Thomas Sorensen is also hurting as are defender Simon Kjaer and striker Nicklas Bendtner.

Denmark goes into their fourth World Cup tournament ranked 36th in the world by FIFA. They will play in Group E against Holland, Cameroon, and Japan and are listed as third favourites to win the group by Expekt.com with odds of 9/2. They’re listed at 150/1 to take home the World Cup. First game for Denmark against Holland will be a tough start though.

Even though South Africa are the hosts, they are listed as least favourite to win Group A against Mexico, France, and Uruguay at 21/4 and are 100/1 to win the Cup.

South Africa and Denmark have met twice before with both games ending in 1-1 draws. One was a World cup game in 1998 and the other a friendly in 1999. Look for the same result in this match.

Four players were cut from the provisional squad. These were goalkeeper Kim Christensen, midfielders Michael Krohn-Dehli, and Micheal Silberbauer along with striker Morten Rasmussen.

However, injured defender Simon Kjaer was named to the team even after the 21-year-old injured his knee ligaments during Denmark’s 2-0 win over Senegal in a friendly on May 27. Kjaer will have to have his knee scanned during the week to see just how bad the injury is.

Olsen is hoping that Kjaer, who plays for Palermo in Italy, will be fit in time for Denmark’s opening game against Holland on June 14 on as he’s the manager’s first choice to partner up with Liverpool’s Daniel Agger in the team’s central defence. If the scans reveal that Kjaer’s knee is too bad and he won’t be able to compete, Denmark will be able to replace him before they kick off their group.

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Denmarks is hoping to be able to pull off a huge shock in the World Cup, much the way they did back in 1992 when they won the European Championship and in 1995 when they won the Confederations Cup in their one and only appearance in the tournament.

However, the Danes are up against it in South Africa as Expekt.com lists them at 150/1 to win the Cup and at third place 9/2 to win Group E against Holland, Cameroon, and Japan. They’ll be relying on Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner to supply them with goals with help from Jon Dahl Tomasson of Dutch club Feyenoord, and Soren Larsen of MSV Duisburg up front.

Denmark still has time to experiment a little bit before the World Cup as they have a couple of friendlies left before the tournament. These are against fellow World Cup hopefuls Australia on June 1st and a game against the tournament hosts South Africa on June 5th.

Denmark Final Squad:

Goalkeepers: Thomas Sorensen (Stoke City), Stephan Andersen (Brondby), Jesper Christiansen (FC Copenhagen).

Defenders: William Kvist (FC Copenhagen), Simon Kjaer(Palermo), Lars Jacobsen (Blackburn Rovers), Per Kroldrup (Fiorentina), Daniel Agger (Liverpool), Patrick Mtiliga (Malaga), Simon Poulsen (AZ Alkmaar).

Midfielders: Martin Jorgensen (AGF Aarhus), Christian Poulsen (Juventus), Jakob Poulsen (AGF Aarhus), Dennis Rommedahl (Ajax Amsterdam), Thomas Kahlenberg (VfL Wolfsburg), Thomas Enevoldsen (FC Groningen), Christian Eriksen (Ajax Amsterdam), Mikkel Beckmann (Randers), Daniel Jensen (Werder Bremen), Jepser Gronkjaer (FC Copenhagen).

Forwards: Jon Dahl Tomasson (Feyenoord), Soren Larsen (MSV Duisburg), Nicklas Bendtner (Arsenal).

Venue: Johannesburg – JSC, South Africa

Fifth favourites Holland meet with Denmark on day four of the World Cup in the opening match of Group E. The fixture will be played in Johannesburg at 13:30 local time.

As the first all European game in the tournament, this match will be watched with interest by supporters and neutrals alike, given that all of the preceding fixtures have much more diversity in the home regions of the teams playing. Both teams, being from northern Europe, will have the South African climate going against them throughout the tournament.

With comparatively unthreatening opposition elsewhere in their group from Japan and Cameroon, both of these teams will be aiming to progress and viewing this as an important fixture.

Holland, who are 12-1 to win the cup outright are understandably favoured against Denmark who are at around 150-1 to be crowned World Cup champions.

The odds for winning this match are, at best, 4/5 to the Netherlands, from Sky Bet and Boyle Sports. Best odds on Denmark are 4/1, offered by both Expekt and Paddy Power. The draw is offered at around 5/2 by most bookmakers.

Odds on the finishing scoreline are quite short for most of the most likely Holland win scenarios, with 5/1 on 1-0, 6/1 on 2-0 and 7/1 on 2-1 being the most common offerings. This goes up to 14/1 for 3-0 or 3-1.

A Denmark win with correct scoreline fetches better odds, as you might expect, with 9/1 on 1-0, 20/1 on 2-0 and 14/1 on 2-1.

Netherlands and Denmark have played before once recently, in May 2008 in a friendly. This match resulted in one all draw. The odds for the same result in this 2010 World Cup fixture are between 5 and 6/1.

In other bets, Holland are 4/5 on to keep a clean sheet whereas the same bet on Denmark will get you 23/10. Holland are 15/2 to win from behind, whereas for Denmark to do this it is 16/1 – both offered by William Hill. The odds of there being an own goal are 8/1, and the odds of this being the first goal are 16/1.

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Prediction

This game could well be there for the taking for the Dutch team, with little to suggest Denmark will upset them. Holland will need to win this game to prove themselves worthy of their place among the very favourites.

With this in mind, and the high hopes for this year’s Dutch squad, the prediction for this match is 2-0 to the Netherlands. We have also listed more predictions for Group E.

Dutch manager Verbeek, who has announced he will be stepping down from the role after the World Cup, has stated that Denmark will be a good preparatory opponent, given they have a similar style and strength to that which his team expects to face in their group.

Verbeek also showed respect for Danish head coach Morten Olsen, saying that he was a fantastic player in his footballing days, and is a strong and experienced manager who Verbeek expects to put forward a well organised team both in the friendly game and the tournament itself.

Australia have been drawn in Group D, one of the toughest groups in the tournament, with Germany, Ghana and Serbia as their opponents. If they make it through the group stage they will play against finalists from Group C, within which the favourites to progress are England and the USA.

Denmark also have a tough job ahead of them in the group stages, with the Netherlands, Cameroon and Japan in their group, Group E.

Australia are seeded 18th in the world going in to the tournament, with Denmark 22nd. The seedings are decided by FIFA based on coefficients around the teams expected and recorded performances.

The only time the two teams have met before was in London in 2007, where Denmark beat the Aussies 3-1.

Pre World Cup friendlies are an important device in getting players, strategies and tactics ready for the most important competition in international football. Many managers use the friendly games as an opportunity to work with different formations and players (given a greater number of substitutions are permitted in friendly games) to tweak their teams ready for the finals.

Choosing the best opposition for this is important, and Australia’s opponents are an interesting selection. New Zealand, as their most local rivals in the tournament, are new to World Cup football and second to bottom in the seedings at 31st, and are the bookmakers’ rank outsiders, with some bookies offering 2000-1 on them winning. Australia, currently at around 125-1 should find this an easy game to run themselves in.

The USA are a well matched team for Australia to take on. Both being large nations where football is not as big a sport as it is in most of the rest of the world. Theoretically both teams have the capacity to do well, but they are not big name nations in the sport, with only a couple of star players to their names – Landon Donovan for the USA and Tim Cahill for Australia.

It will be interesting to see the approaches Verbeek takes preparing for these friendly games and how this translates into a strategy that can get the Socceroos through the group round.

With only one lost game in the qualifiers (against Hungary) they look strong, but we still believe they will find it hard to go through from the Group E together with Holland, Japan and Cameroon. Their game play hasn’t always been as impressive as the results are showing and it is a very tough group, with Holland being clear favorites.

Denmark will rely much on top striker Soren Larsen and Arsenal forward Nicklas Bendtner. Actually there are not many that will match Larsen’s goal scoring records in international football. In the last two World Cup qualifying campaigns, the Dane has scored 10 goals in as many matches.

“I feel comfortable playing in the national team’s system. I get more chances in the national team, certainly more than I get at club level.” says Soren Larsen.

Our bet goes against Denmark though, and at Expekt they give you 1.72 in odds of Denmark not qualifying through the group.

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Denmark vs. Hungary
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Copenhagen, Denmark 8:45 pm local time

In Saturday’s penultimate qualifying play, Denmark delivered an old-fashioned schoolyard beating on Sweden, effectively knocking the Swedes out of contention for a trip to South Africa. More importantly, the Danes’ decisive victory punched their passports for next summer’s South African Championships, boosting their hopes for carrying home the Cup

Meanwhile, a tough Hungarian squad fell to Portugal 3-0 as the determined Portuguese squad moved into second place behind Denmark. To their credit, the Hungarians mounted a strong attack, barely missing two scoring opportunities late in the first half. Had one shot sailed just one inch lower, the Hungarian squad would have knotted the score going into the intermission. Although the Hungarians came-up short, their spirited play against the dominant Danes gives more indication they are on-track to restore the team’s former glory.

Gameplan
Obviously, team Denmark plays Wednesday primarily for the exercise. With their bags already packed for a trip to the bottom of the world, the Danes want to guard against injury. Danish coach Morten Olsen undoubtedly will seize the opportunity to rest his veterans, giving his younger players precious minutes and valuable international experience. For resurgent Hungary, play against the Danish team will give Dutch transplant Erwin Koeman a chance to measure the progress of his ambitious rebuilding program.

Koeman joined the Hungarian team on August 1, 2008, promising to return Hungary to the football dominance it enjoyed in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Although Koeman has said he feels no pressure, the soccerati agree he is eager to succeed. Wednesday night’s contest will show Hungarian coach and players where they stand.

SideLines
As European qualifying play began, Koeman told FIFA.com, “The quality is there and the players just need confidence. My aim is to engender this self-confidence… I’m working on the team’s strengths and not their weaknesses.” Wednesday night, the world will see just how much strength and self-confidence the young Hungarians have developed under Koeman’s tutelage.

Bet on this match
As stated earlier in this match preview the game is of very little importance to both countries which means you might want to place a wager to get some extra excitement. At Bet365 they are offering the best odds on the 2010 World Cup and this is our bookmaker of choice when it comes to World Cup betting and European leagues.

Bet365 odds for this match: Denmark – 1.53, Draw – 4.00, Hungary – 6.25