Does It Matter If England Finish Third Or Fourth?
Is the match to decide which country finishes third in the World Cup the most meaningless in sport? It’s like John Isner and Novak Djokovic or Rafael Nadal playing a tennis match at Wimbledon because they lost in the semi-finals. At the snooker world championships the losing semi-finalists don’t get announced at the Crucible Theatre and then play a match to determine who is the third best player in the world. If England beat Belgium today it will be their second best finishing position and best effort overseas. Losing in the semi-finals of the World Cup is devastating, even more so when you were 22 minutes from playing in the biggest match in the sport. ENGLAND are 2/1 with Ladbrokes to win the match in 90 minutes.
Novak Djokovic leads Rafael Nadal by two sets to one in the second Wimbledon semi-final. The winner of the match will be a big favourite to beat Kevin Anderson in the final. The South African had to endure more than six hours of serve dominated tennis to see off John Isner. The American was magnanimous in defeat and it would be cruel to ask him to play Djokovic or Nadal in a third place match over five sets. If FIFA want to have a third placed team in the World Cup they could have used the number of corners or shots on target to determine that outcome. At Wimbledon the hypothetical third place match could still involve Djokovic because NADAL can win the last two sets and the match and that outcome is 2/1 with William Hill.
There are consolation races for some of the major Flat handicaps but that is slightly different. They are lucrative in their own right and give horses who do not make the field for the big race the chance to race for decent prize money over the same distance and on the same ground. It’s the third day of the July Festival at Newmarket and the July Cup is one of 10 live races across ITV. The Group 1 six furlong contest often identifies the best sprinter in Europe. In the absence of last year’s winner, Harry Angel, the horse to back is BLUE POINT at 11/4 with Betfair.
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