World Cup Betting: Will Portugal win?

Soccer fans have been out in force cheering their favorite team as the FIFA World Cup celebrations begin. Well, don't expect the Portuguese fans to be lagging behind! They've thrown all their support behind their home team and are expecting great things from them this year. But is the Portuguese soccer team capable of winning the coveted trophy this year - all World Cup betting fans want to know - or are fans' expectations bound to meet disappointment%u2026again? Let's take a look at the team and see what it can do for World Cup betting!

Though Portugal has been participating in the FIFA World cups since 1966, they are unfortunately yet to take the much desired cup home. Their best position was achieved in the same year as their premier appearance when they made it to the semifinal stage and lost 2-1 to England who went on to claim the cup that year.Portugal thus secured the third position.

In the subsequent years, it only made it to the FIFA World Cup three times - in 1986, 2002 and 2006. They only managed a poor 17th and 24th position in 1986 and 2002 though they did climb up to the 4th spot in 2006.

Portugal's attempt to qualify for this year's World Cup got off to a poor start earning coach Queiroz more than his share of criticism. Portugal's defeat to Denmark on home ground was bad enough without the three draws that followed in their qualifying path. But, the team rallied to notch up three consecutive wins in Albania followed by a victory over Bosnia (2-0) to book their spot in the much anticipated event. They've ended up with a spot in Group G with Brazil, Ivory Coast and South Korea.

The Portuguese World Cup 2010 team under coach Carlos Queiroz consists of goal keepers, Beto, Daniel Fernandes and Eduardo; defenders Bruno Alves, Duda, Fabio Coentrao, Miguel, Paulo Ferreira, Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho, Ricardo Costa, and Rolando; Deco, Miguel Veloso, Pedro Mendes, Raul Meireles and Tiago as midfielders; Cristiano Ronaldo, Danny, Hugo Almeida, Nani, Liedson and Simao Sabrosa as strikers.

The key stars in this lineup, without a doubt, include Ronaldo, Liedson and Pepe. It is not surprising that Ronaldo, who was injured and didn't make it to the team matches, will be expected to do well. It might be recalled though, that Ronaldo wasn't successful at scoring in any of the qualifying matches that he did play. Having said that, Ronaldo isn't the world's most expensive player for nothing!  dennisgibson.com If he does what he's known for (read stunning free-kicks and mesmerizing goalscoring, coupled with skillful runs), there's much for their opponents to fear.

Liedson, now officially Portuguese, can be best remembered for the essential goal he scored in the match against Denmark during the qualifying run-up. Liedson is a forward player and Portugal can rely on him to score.

Pepe, fellow team-mate of Ronaldo on the Real Madrid team, will be in the midfielder's position. His importance can't be underestimated in terms of safe-guarding the back four, as he so brilliantly showed in the team's qualifying match against Bosnia.

While experts can't ignore the fact that Portugal has managed to qualify for all the World Cups since 2002 as well as the Euro Cup events in 2000, 2004 and 2008, - France, Germany, Italy and Spain being the other countries - however, their less than convincing path to theWorld Cup has given them enough reason to allow doubts to creep in. Experts agree that Portugal is an underdog. World Cup betting enthusiasts should pay attention to this fact. In keeping with that and despite the fact that Portugal is ranked third, the odds of their winning the World Cup are set at 25/1.

Portuguese soccer fans have reason to be encouraged by past experiences that show that underdogs can strike the right notes and reach the heights of fame and glory just like any other team.

Where can you bet on the World Cup? Head over to  the home of World Cup betting.