Joao Moutinho of Portugal is challenged by Behrang Safari of Sweden. In two weeks your other coworkers will pretend to know players like this.

Let’s start with the why: Well according to British bookmaker Ladbrokes, the largest bookmaking operation in the world, legal markets alone will see almost $1.5 billion in wagers on the World Cup.  In 2006 for the WC they had the biggest numbers they had ever seen $1.3 billion. Factor in the recession is “ending” and South Africa being in the same time as European markets it is safe to say this year’s tournament will be the most bet-upon sporting event ever.

Great that is Europe but we live in the United States?  Vegas might beg to differ. Granted in 2000 hardly any books on the strip offered wagering on soccer. In 2006 in the month long period it outdid baseball. Nevada doesn’t separate out soccer-specific betting (it tracks football, basketball, baseball, and others), but in 2005 “others“  had a total of $100.2 million wagered jump to $131 million wagered in 2006.

Ok but let’s get to the wagers. For every match there is the standard “who will win wager”.  Then there is also a variety of options for the final score. Like USA vs. England 3-2 USA (66-1). There are on average 25 different score variations per match.  Each match has a ton of prop bets too: the first red card, the amount of corners taken, first throw in after half-time, it goes on and on. The opener with South Africa vs. Mexico has 109 bets on it alone. Most matches have around 90.

You can also wager on the overall tournament.  Most of them are prop bets, such as: Which team will win each group? Who will score the first goal in a game? And which continent will the winner come from (Europe 2-5)? You can even take a flier on whether or not the leading goal scorer for the tournament will play for the winning team. (At Ladbrokes, they call it “doing the double.”) The current odds leader on that wager is Spain’s David Villa.

The big one of course is who will win it all. This wager accounts for nearly 25% of WC gambling globally. The safe bets usually end up being the so-called public teams Brazil, Argentina, and England. The equivalent of let’s say the Lakers in the NBA or Duke for NCAA hoops. Those three sit heavy along with Spain (4/1) this year. Currently the US sits at 80/1.

Even with all these options most bettors stay simple and wager on which team will win.  It is the easiest one to make. Plus it gives you more options and time to pick up subtleties throughout the tournament.  And if you like you like prop bets then by god man just go to town. The majority of the time the favorite will win the matches in the group stage, and when the knockout stage rolls around go with momentum.

This is just a little insight of what to look forward to come this Friday when the rest of the world takes a month off. Spain is a solid bet, and for the most part Brazil. Really shy away from England, they bet heavy on their own and they are not that good.  My pick for overall well I’m putting money down on Portugal at 25 to 1. With whom some consider the best player in the world on their side and a good supporting cast I’ll take those odds.

And of course I’m taking the Yanks over England in the opening weekend. Let’s hope I’m sober enough to know how the match ends.

Many pints were raised across merry ol’ England last night as the Three Lions drew a seemingly easy path to the knock out stage of the 2010 World Cup. The Sun’s headline simply read “Yanks a lot”. So despite the runner up finish in the Confederations Cup there is no respect for Team USA. So what can the Americans take away from all of this?

After all the two diamonds in the MLS’ eyes will be squaring off against each other in their teams opening match. That is of course if good ol’ Becks even makes the England squad and Mr. Donovan stays healthy. Two LA Galaxy teammates are probably the most recognizable names to the American non-followers of soccer and will meet on the world’s largest stage. This is what the US media will focus on.

Do you think these belong in group C or group D?

Never mind the fact that this is probably the best draw that the United States has ever had. In 2002 they had to deal with Portugal, a home side in Korea, and a formidable Polish team. In 2006 the Group of Death took its toll on the US with Italy, Czech Republic, and Ghana. So we have really yet to see how they will handle a relatively easy group. The caved under the pressure in 2006 and excelled to the quarterfinals in 2002 so even that can’t give us a hint.

Slovenia, the second opponent in South Africa, knocked off a very skilled Russian team in a two game playoff to qualify. That being said, (sorry Larry David) they are still not a very threatening team. Algeria is another team that made it in by the skin of its teeth. They defeated a sound Egypt team in a playoff, which some considered one of the best in Africa. The US has never faced either of these teams but recently defeated Egypt in the Confederations Cup if that means anything.

So really the group comes down to England and the United States. The hopeful outcome would be a draw with England and then win the next two games. Now I’m not saying the US can’t beat England, but let’s be realistic they’re just trying to move on to the next round. (England holds a 7-2 advantage all-time) With any luck the Yanks can win the group on goal differential and face the second place team from Group D, which is up for grabs with Australia, Serbia and Ghana. A second place finish for the US would likely mean a matchup with Germany.

There is a lot that can happen leading up to the World Cup with it being more than six months away. Injuries, call-ups, and maybe even some firings all are possible. The US went from 80-1 to 65-1 to win it all after the draw so it looks like the bookies know we got a fair shake. England sits at 5-1 so maybe they can look at the United States as a walkover. That is probably why David Beckham was smiling during the draw. No it is probably more likely he was thinking about banging Charlize Theron the entire time.