In the not too distant past the sport of Soccer was not very popular in the USA and even less so with sports bettors. Any wagering that was done on ‘football’, as the sport we call Soccer is known to the rest of the world, was done on the major European Leagues or perhaps Brazil against Argentina might have drawn some action.
These days with the popularity of soccer blooming in the USA and international competition opening up to a worldwide stage, bettors now have greater access than ever before and thus more opportunities to wager on matches from all over the globe.
The sport of soccer is a bit unique in that, like the Olympics, the major competitions for the World Cup are only held every four years with a qualifying taking up the full year before the actual tournament begins. Also like the Olympics the teams are made up of a selection of top players representing each country as opposed to private teams competing for the cup.
Intense patriotism is often involved in the various rivalries and great pride is taken by the players in representing their country and flag on an international stage. Until recently the USA teams always took a back seat to the vastly more experienced professional players from Europe and South America.
In the preliminary competitions leading up to the next World Cup in Brazil next year, the USA team has surprised the soccer world by being undefeated in the CONCACAF Gold Cup Matches so far going 5-0 and outscoring their opponents by an impressive 19-4 goals.
The USA squad earned its place in the Gold Cup final round against Panama by defeating Honduras 3-1 last week at Cowboy Stadium. The Stars & Stripes, led by veteran Landon Donovan, has won 10 matches in a row and is now heavily favored to beat Panama in their Sunday match from Soldier Field in Chicago.
Although officially listed as the B-Team for the US, this group of guys has rallied around Donovan who is the all time leading scorer for US Soccer. Donovan was reportedly contemplating retirement before this season but the veteran has scored seven goals and nine assists in the team’s last six matches and proved to be the heart and soul of Team USA 2013.
The big LVH SuperBook out of Las Vegas is listing the USA (-400) to win outright over Panama (+330).
