Vegas Play of the Day: Germany vs. Brazil

By Taylor Bern

Tuesday, July 8, 2014 | 10:15 a.m.

Here’s the latest installment of the Play of the Day, which uses odds from the South Point. Our three sports writers started with a $10,000 bankroll — fictional, of course.

Germany minus-115 against Brazil (90 minutes and injury time): $345 to win $300

Two of the best teams in the world, including the host nation, will meet today in the first World Cup semifinal. It’s a huge event, yet the guys that won’t be there have added another level of intrigue that also takes away a little bit of the excitement.

Brazil’s Neymar (back injury) and Thiago Silva (two yellow cards) will both be absent from the lineup. With those guys both in the lineup, Brazil would be the clear favorite, although Germany was never going to be overlooked. Without them, it’s a much closer matchup, and the odds reflect that.

In any knockout game, especially one with as low a scoring total as soccer, there’s a decent amount of luck involved. Throw in that both of these teams, while great, haven’t had truly dominant tournaments and you have to be prepared for anything to happen.

That said, Germany would never forget losing a World Cup semifinal to a team missing two of its best players. Meanwhile, Brazil already has a built-in excuse, even though they’re playing at home. To me that puts more pressure on Die Mannschaft, and while that’s not always a good thing, I think the Germans will rise to the occasion.

Standings: Bern (33-24-1, $12,019), Keefer (29-34, $8,926), Brewer (23-36-3, $2,385)

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.