World Cup semi-finalists hard to split for punters

By James Milton 9:19PM 5 JUL 2014

ARGENTINA joined Germany and Brazil in the semi-finals of the World Cup thanks to Saturday’s 1-0 victory over Belgium and bookmakers were struggling to separate the three giants in the betting.

The Albiceleste shaded favouritism at 5-2 with Ladbrokes offering 13-5 about Joachim Low’s Germans and tournament hosts Brazil.

However, bet365, Betfred and Hills couldn’t split the three semi-finalists, quoting them as 5-2 co-favourites for the trophy before Saturday night’s quarter-final between Holland and Costa Rica.

Gonzalo Higuain scored the only goal of the game for Argentina in the eighth minute. The Napoli frontman had been 6-1 to score first and the 1-0 Argentina win was the same price in the correct-score market.

Lionel Messi missed a late chance to add to his tournament goals tally and his blank boosted James Rodriguez’s chances of ending up as top goalscorer.

The Colombia playmaker, who has scored six goals to Messi’s four, was trading at evens with Hills to top the scoring charts before the Holland-Costa Rica game kicked off.

Paddy Power offered 7-1 about Argentina winning the World Cup and Messi finishing as the top tournament goalscorer.

There was one cause for concern for Argentina as winger Angel di Maria went off injured in the first half. Sergio Aguero did not feature for the Albiceleste.