Koren fires Slovenia to top of Group C

Soccer Betting Lines

06/13/2010 - Polokwane, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Robert Koren scored with 11 minutes remaining and Slovenia topped Algeria, 1-0, on Sunday at Peter Mokaba Stadium to move to the top of Group C in the FIFA World Cup.

England and the United States opened Group C play Saturday with a 1-1 tie, and Slovenia followed with its first-ever World Cup victory to put pressure on the group favorites.

Koren, Slovenia's captain, scored the lone goal on a 20-yard shot that skimmed off the arm of Algeria goalkeeper Fawzi Chaouchi and inside the right post.

Although Chaouchi should have made the save, it was not as bad as the goal the English allowed to the U.S. when goalie Robert Green let Clint Dempsey's drive bounce off his hand and into the net in Saturday's draw.

Group C resumes Friday when Slovenia plays the U.S. and England plays Algeria in must-win games for the Americans and British.

Algeria's Nadir Belhadj had the first scoring chance of the match inside three minutes off a free kick, but his dipping shot was touched over the crossbar by Slovenia goalie Samir Handanovic.

Although Algeria had more possession over the following 35 minutes it managed just one more good look on goal in the 36th minute when Rafik Halliche headed wide of the right post from seven yards.

Valter Birsa ended the half with Slovenia's only solid chance in the 43rd, but his dipping 30-yard shot was directed over the bar by Chaouchi.

Slovenia and Algeria traded chances in the opening 25 minutes after the break, with Slovenia's Andraz Kirm shooting into Chaouchi's arms in the 60th minute and Algeria's Abdelkader Ghezzal heading just high of the top right corner in the 70th.

Ghezzal changed the match three minutes later when he played the ball down off his arm in the box to earn his second yellow card and an ejection, and Slovenia was able to take advantage in the closing stages.

Just after Slovenia avoided a disaster in the 78th minute, when Algeria's Karim Ziani stole a pass from Handanovic only for the Slovenia goalie to recover and smother the loose ball, Koren delivered the game-winner.

Bojan Jokic passed from the left sideline to Koren in the middle of the field and the Slovenia captain turned in open space and hit a shot toward the bottom-right corner.

Chaouchi was in great position to make the save, but instead of playing it safe and pushing the ball wide, he tried to control the ball and it bounced off his left arm and inside the right post.

Slovenia, which lost all three of its group games in its only other World Cup, held on over the final 10 minutes. Algeria has not won a World Cup match since 1982, when it beat West Germany and Chile in the group stage, but still failed to advance.

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Big East Conference odds

Work left to do: Villanova, Syracuse, DePaul, West Virginia, Providence

Notre Dame and Louisville appear to have done enough to make the move, so we'll make them locks. The Cardinals, despite a modest RPI, are trending way up and have clinched at least a tie for third in the Big East, which should be more than enough with their pair of big road wins. Villanova got back to .500 and gets back to more solid footing. Syracuse got a very important road win and crippled a fellow contender in the process. West Virginia's fate could be in its hands Tuesday at Pitt.

Work left to do:

Villanova [18-9 (7-7), RPI: 21, SOS: 5] Pounded Rutgers to get back to .500. If Cats can get their last two (at UConn, vs. Syracuse), that should be enough with strong computer numbers and a host of wins away from The Pavilion. The Cats have beaten Texas and swept the Big 5 (never easy in Philly), but have a couple of losses to bubble teams (Xavier, Drexel), too. I still think they'll be OK, possibly even at 8-8.

Syracuse [20-8 (9-5), RPI: 53, SOS: 62] History says 10 wins will be plenty, but it might be hard for the Orange to get that last one with a final two vs. G'town, which is trying to win the league title, and at Villanova, which will be desperate for a W. The relative lack of nonconference heft and the weak computer numbers are still concerns, but the Orange have won four in a row and got a very, very big win at Providence on Saturday.

DePaul [16-12 (8-7), RPI: 54, SOS: 18] Beat Cincy and should get past South Florida to get to 9-7, but then what? They have beaten Kansas and Cal (right after the DeVon Hardin injury) earlier this season, but also have lost to Bradley and Purdue, among others. They'll likely need a couple of BE tourney wins, too, but we'll see ...

West Virginia [19-7 (8-6), RPI: 58, SOS: 125] The game at Pitt on Tuesday night could decide the Mountaineers' fate (barring a deep tournament run). They can still get to 9-7 in the Big East without it by beating Cincinnati, but the nine wins would be against UConn, Villanova, St. John's, South Florida, DePaul, Rutgers, Seton Hall twice and the Bearcats. Beating bubble foes is fine, but where's the beef? Outside of beating PG-less UCLA in nonconference play (still a top quality win), there's not a lot to fall back on (besides maybe NC State). WVU vs. Syracuse would be an interesting debate, as the teams don't play in the Big East regular season. WVU has the best win, but Cuse has played the much better schedule.

Providence [17-10 (7-7), RPI: 70, SOS: 33] The Friars likely saw their at-large hopes die at home in the four-point loss to Syracuse, barring an unexpected run to the Big East semis or more. The RPI, bad already, won't be helped by playing St. John's and South Florida in the final two league games.

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FOOTBALL BETTING LINES

NFL Football Sports Betting

Two playoff teams from 2007 take center stage on the NFL Network Sunday night in a Week 2 NFL betting match-up when the (0-1) New England Patriots betting head south to Florida for a contest with the (1-0) Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

New England HC Bill Belichick couldn’t care less about the way his team plays in the preseason. With a chance to tie last week’s game with the Baltimore Ravens betting, He elected to go for the two-point conversion and outright victory. The conversion failed, and the Pats ended up falling to the Ravens by a 16-15 final count.

New England rolled off twelve unanswered points to give it a chance at securing the victory, but it never threatened to cover the 3.5-point spread. NFL bettors saw this one coming, as they bet the Ravens down from +6 to +3.5 as the week progressed. QB Tom Brady didn’t take part in the Patriots first preseason clash, but could see action this weekend.

His three replacements all put up embarrassing numbers. They went a combined 17 for 33, and threw three interceptions and no touchdowns. The New England defense was encouraging, as they held the Ravens to 2/12 third down conversions and surrendered just ten first downs. That ‘D’ should be bolstered with the addition of former Bucs and Denver Broncos betting safety John Lynch, who could make his Patriots debut on Sunday against his former mates.

HC Jon Gruden had to be impressed with the way his Bucs played on both sides of the ball in their dominating 17-6 victory over the Miami Dolphins in Week 1’s NFL pre-season betting action. Bucs bettors were quite happy with the effort, as they made a mockery of the fact that they were underdogs in the game.

The logjam at the quarterback position didn’t get any easier to separate for Gruden, as all four of his QBs had positive experiences in the first exhibition of 2008. The four combined to complete 28 of their 40 passes for 204 yards and a touchdown, and that was without starting QB Jeff Garcia in the lineup.

RB Michael Bennett had 19 carries and four receptions, totaling 90 yards and a touchdown. Expect to see more of Bennett, Kenneth Darby, and Earnest Graham, as they all compete for playing time with Warrick Dunn in the backfield this season. Defensively, the Bucs recorded four sacks and held the Fins offense in check all day.

First round draft pick Aqib Talib was impressive in the secondary, recording a tackle and two pass defenses in his debut. Don’t be surprised to see Talib in the starting lineup opposite Ronde Barber for the Bucs in ’08.

The betting trends suggest that NFL bettors should be backing the Bucs in this intra-conference exhibition.

These two teams hooked up last year in Tampa Bay, with the Bucs winning that game 13-10. The Buccaneers have only lost one preseason game at home dating back to the beginning of the ’05 preseason. The Patriots have had a mixed bag of results in their recent exhibitions. They have gone 2-2 ATS and SU each of the last three years.

New England currently sits as modest 1-point favorites in this preseason showdown with the ‘total’ now sitting at 34.5.

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