Portugal can stand up to tough Bosnia test and reach Euro 2012
Published:Expected to make short work of their initial qualifying group, Portugal tackle an awkward tie with Bosnia to ensure qualification for Euro 2012.
The home side will have been immensely disappointed not to have qualified automatically from their group, but have the chance to make amends at 4/9.
Bosnia, meanwhile, fell just short of beating France to top spot in Group D, and the Edin Dzeko-inspired side are priced at a big 6/1 to come out on top in their away encounter.
The sides played out a 0-0 draw in Bosnia on Friday night, and it could be worth backing a repeat of that result at 13/5.
As the game looks set to be a tight affair, it could pay dividends to back scorelines with just one goal between the two teams, and 7/1 for a 2-1 home win, along with a big 25/1 for a 3-2 home victory look appealing bets.
With this in mind, it could also prove fruitful to take notice of the both teams to score market about the game, at a generous 5/4.
Also, the 1/1 for Portugal to score 2-3 goals in the match seems a very good price, as does the 3/1 for there to be three total goals in the match.
As a close encounter seems inevitable, an individual moment of brilliance will perhaps be required to settle it.
Both sides have players capable of providing such a moment, but it could be foolish to look beyond the Portuguese captain, as one of the most influential players in world football, Cristiano Ronaldo is understandably short at 5/2 to hit the first goal.
For longer odds regarding Portugal goalscorers, punters could do worse than to invest in Raul Meireles, who loves a long-range effort from midfield, and has a canny knack of arriving late in the box also, making his 10/1 price for the first goal look too long.
Bosnia’s main threat will come from the aforementioned Dzeko, and the 9/1 for him to score first, as he did away to France in qualifying, is a monster price.
