USA clash with Bosnia-Herzegovina in World Cup Round of 32 in San Francisco in the early hours of Thursday morning and the co-hosts are a short price to come out on top.
USA
The USA won the first 2 matches and although they lost their third game they had done enough to top Group D with 6 points ahead of Australia and Paraguay who both made it through with 4 points and with 3 points Turkey were eliminated.
USA’s final group match against Turkey was a dead rubber with the co-hosts having already secured top spot whilst Turkey were no longer in contention to make it to the knockout rounds. USA took a very early lead (Auston Trusty) but Turkey went 2-1 up before half time. Sebastian Berhalter made it 2-2 early in the second half but in injury time Turkey found the winner and USA went down 3-2.
USA had secured their Ro32 place with a 2-0 win over Australia in Seattle in their second outing. They were full value for the victory which came courtesy of an early own goal and a second from Alex Freeman just before half time and they were largely dominant throughout.
USA were quickly out of the blocks and went on to beat Paraguay 4-1 in their opening match in Los Angeles. A 7th minute own goal sent them on their way and a brace from Folarin Balogun had them 3-0 up at half time. Paraguay did find a goal on 73 minutes but Giovanni Reyna rounded off the scoring deep into injury time and it finished 4-1.
Bosnia & Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina came through Group B as a best third placed finisher. Switzerland topped that quartet with 7 points ahead of Canada and B&H with 4 points each and Qatar earned just the 1 point.
Bosnia’s final group match against Qatar in Seattle was a “win or go home” scenario and they came through with a 3-1 victory. Kerim Alajbegovic opened the scoring and an own goal saw B&H go 2-0 up before Qatar halved the deficit before half time. A third goal from substitute Mahmic 10 minutes from time sealed the win and an extended stay in the tournament.
Bosnia suffered a 4-1 defeat to Switzerland in Los Angeles in their second group match. They were very much in the contest until inside the final quarter with the Swiss not opening the scoring until the 74th minute but shortly after conceding the opener Tarik Muharemovic picked up a straight red card and bar what was a consolation goal for Ermin Mahmic the floodgates opened
Jovo Lukic put Bosnia ahead in the first half of their opening match against Canada in Toronto. They rode their luck on more than one occasion but their defence was finally breached on 78 minutes and the game finished 1-1.
The Betting (Regulation time unless stated otherwise)
USA are priced at around 7/20 to win the game with the draw available at 4.25/1 and B&H can be backed at around 8.25/1
A game of 3 goals or more is priced at 8/10 and its 11/10 for both teams to score
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The Verdict:
USA have been involved in some high scoring games so far but with us entering knockout phase I’m going to make my chances that this will be a bit tighter and hopefully lower scoring. Bosnia proved they had staying power in reaching these finals via the Euro play offs including knocking out Italy and Wales and I think they might not be too adventurous against a co-host.
No more than 1 goal in each half is a tentative play based on gut feel as much as anything.
Bets: Both halves under 1.5 total goals? yes at 16/10 with BetOlimp
Note, odds are subject to change
