Dutch hold off Uruguay to reach World Cup final

Soccer Betting Lines

07/06/2010 - Cape Town, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben scored in a three-minute span of the second half and the Netherlands survived a frantic finish to edge Uruguay, 3-2, on Tuesday to advance to the FIFA World Cup final.

Sneijder scored in the 70th minute for his fifth goal of the tournament and Robben followed with his second. Giovanni Van Bronckhorst also scored for Holland.

Maxi Pereira scored two minutes into stoppage time for Uruguay, which got its other goal from Diego Forlan, but the South American team could not finish off another miracle win.

The Netherlands will play the winner of Wednesday's semifinal between Germany and Spain in the World Cup final Sunday. Diego Forlan scored the lone goal for Uruguay, which plays the loser of the other semifinal in the third-place match Saturday.

The Netherlands were nearly gifted an early goal when Uruguay goalie Fernando Muslera failed to punch the ball out of danger. Dirk Kuyt ran onto the ball on the left side of the box but, with Muslera scrambling back to his line, rushed the shot and fired high in the fourth minute.

Dutch captain Van Bronckhorst turned the next chance into the best goal of the World Cup. Demy De Zeeuw, starting for suspended Nigel De Jong, dropped a pass off to Van Bronckhorst in midfield, and the left back unleashed a perfect shot from 40 yards just off the fingertips of a diving Muslera, off the right post, and into the net in the 18th minute.

Holland continued to create chances and Robben broke into the box in the 31st, but Uruguay defender Martin Caceres, making his first appearance of the World Cup, made a sliding tackle to prevent a shot.

Alvaro Pereira followed with Uruguay's first shot on goal from 30 yards in the 36th, but Dutch goalie Maarten Stekenlenburg made an easy save.

Robben set up Kuyt on the left side of the area minutes later, but Kuyt failed to solve Muslera at the near post.

Uruguay tied the game in the closing minutes of the half when Forlan's curving shot just over the head of Dutch defender John Heitinga, off the fingertips of a fooled Stekenlenburg and under the crossbar. Forlan hit the shot from nearly 30 yards and Stekenlenburg initially took a step toward the left, allowing the ball to sneak past him.

Forlan tested Stekenlenburg again before half, but the Dutch goalie did well to hold a long free kick to keep the match level.

Holland coach Bert van Marwijk made an aggressive move at half, taking off De Zeeuw for attacking midfielder Rafael Van der Vaart.

Uruguay was the first to create a scoring chance after half, though, as Edison Cavani, starting in place of suspended Luis Suarez, pressured Stekenlenburg on the edge of the area and had a clearance deflect off him.

Cavani slipped the ball out to Pereira, who hit a 25-yard shot toward an empty net but Van Bronckhorst raced in to head the ball out of danger in the 51st.

The Dutch had extended period of possession in Uruguay's side without creating a strong chance, and the South American side escaped the spell and quickly set up a chance for Forlan.

Uruguay earned a free kick 30 yards from goal in the 66th, and Forlan dipped a shot over the ball and toward the bottom left, but Stekenlenburg dove to push the ball wide.

The Netherlands could have taken the lead two minutes later when Van der Vaart and Robben had back-to-back chances, respectively, the first saved by Muslera and the second fired over the bar.

Sneijder followed with the go-ahead goal in the 70th, when he took a pass from Robin Van Persie and fired from the top of the penalty area. With the help of a deflection off a Uruguay defender, the ball rolled past Muslera and into the bottom-right corner.

Robben sealed the win three minutes later when he adjusted to a Kuyt cross and headed into the bottom-left corner from 12 yards. Kuyt's cross was just a step behind Robben, but the Bayern Munich winger took a step back toward the top of the 18 and flicked the header past a helpless Muslera.

Robben had two more chances to add to his scoring total in the final minutes, but failed to finish two golden chances, and Uruguay nearly took advantage.

Walter Gargano played a short free kick to Maxi Perieria on the right edge of the area, and he hit a shot into the bottom left corner to set up the frantic finish.

Uruguay had a few half-chances in the closing seconds, including possession in the area, but could not create another goal. Uruguay survived a missed penalty kick in its quarterfinal in the closing seconds of extra time just to advance to the semifinals.

The Dutch held on to advance to the final for the first time since the second of two consecutive runner-up finishes in 1978.

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MySportsbook.com favors Bears, Bengals, Chargers and Colts to remain perfect

LAS VEGAS , Sept. 28 - Two big match-ups of undefeated teams have fans salivating at the Week Four schedule in the NFL. The Chicago Bears stifling defense looks to provide a less than hospitable welcome to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday night in a battle of two 3-0 teams in the NFC conference. In the AFC, the San Diego Chargers (2-0) head to Maryland to face the surprising Baltimore Ravens (3-0) as both try to keep pace atop the conference standings. Betting Lines makers at MySportsbook.com, online sportsbook and casino, have set the Bears as 3.5 point favorites while the Chargers are a 2.5 point bet.

Of the three remaining undefeated teams, only one, New Orleans, enters this week's game as an underdog. Despite an emotional and resounding win over Atlanta on Monday night, the Saints are a 7.5 point underdog against the struggling Carolina Panthers. Indianapolis looks to stay perfect when they face the New York Jets as a 9 point road favorite while the Cincinnati Bengals are a 6 point favorite at home to the New England Patriots.

Six teams enter the week still looking for their first win, with a seventh, Tampa Bay, on a bye week. The prospect of dropping another game would not bode well for a potential playoff run. Since 1990, just three teams -- the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Detroit Lions and 1998 Buffalo Bills -- have overcome losing their first three games of the season to earn a postseason berth. And only the Chargers managed to accomplish the feat after starting 0-4.

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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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