3/21 Recap: My schizophrenic run through the lower rungs of European football continued yesterday. I was expecting an under in the Wigan/Walsall contest, but the visitors killed that by themselves in a 3-0 win. As for League Two, I got my needed dose of Akinfenwa and a Wycombe win in a thrilling back and forth match with Crawley Town. But after all that, I look forward to Thursday with literally no European club football at my disposal. And since it isn’t “Picks From The Continent Below,” all the South American football is off the table. So, therefore, I must take my cracks at a series of friendly matches, both at the U-21 and senior levels.
3/21 Results:
My Picks: Wigan Athletic 1 Walsall 0 (Under 2.5 total goals [-140])
Wycombe Wanderers 2 Crawley Town 0 (Wycombe -0.5 [+110])
Actual Results: Wigan Athletic 3 Walsall 0
Wycombe Wanderers 3 Crawley Town 2
So let’s shake some hands and exchange pleasantries because it’s about to get a whole lotta friendly up in here.
U-21 INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY
Norway U-21 @ Italy U-21 (1:30 PM ET/ESPN3, WatchESPN, ESPN Deportes)
I’ll start off my afternoon with some youth football. Italy’s last stop before the being a full Azzurri will host Norway at the Stadio Renato Curi.
The Italians made it to the semi-finals of the 2017 UEFA Under-21 Championship, losing to eventual runners-up Spain. That team featured several players who are now full-fledged internationals like Milan’s Gianluigi Donnarumma and Roma’s Lorenzo Pellegrini.
Like us here in the U.S., Italy’s failure to make the World Cup in Russia puts a huge spotlight on youth development. There is a fast track to the senior national team now in Italy, with a changing of the old guard rapidly taking place. Expect to see even more of the U-21 side, including Milan’s Patrick Cutrone who is doing double duty at the moment, than you normally would in Italy’s bid for a spot in the field for Qatar 2022.
As for Norway, they have plenty to watch for as well at this level. The Heerenveen duo of Martin Odegaard and Morten Thorsby are the undisputed future of Norwegian football. Odegaard, once dubbed the Norwegian Messi at the tender age of 16, is on loan from Real Madrid until this summer. He has yet to fulfill the lofty expectations heaped upon him so early, but he is still just 19 and could feature back with Los Blancos after this summer’s expected clear out. Thorsby, on the other hand, isn’t as flashy a name, but the box to box midfielder can get a goal as well and may be on the radar of bigger clubs in the coming months.
So when looking at odds for friendly matches, it is always a crapshoot. Will managers try out new formations or run out new players? Will the players even give 75% effort for the full 90 minutes? That is why I always prefer the home team. Italy’s at home. Put two and two together.
PREDICTION: U-21 Italy 2 U-21 Norway 1 (U-21 Italy MONEYLINE [-225])
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY
Panama @ Denmark (3:00 PM ET/NOT TELEVISED IN THE U.S., List of Coverage Worldwide HERE)
While this next friendly won’t be aired here in the States, I wanted to feature it because of it actually featuring sides playing at the World Cup this summer. If you really want to seek it out, I’m sure there will be stream links all over Twitter. Just have a viewer beware mentality.
Denmark advanced to Russia over my beloved Republic of Ireland in the UEFA Qualifying playoffs. But I carry no ill will towards the Danes because they did so with a flair and style worthy of World Cup inclusion, unlike France ahead of the 2010 Tournament. Their 4-2-3-1 setup allows Christian Eriksen to be at his very best and are strong at the back with Andreas Christensen and Simon Kjaer in front of keeper Kasper Schmeichel.
Panama also made the tournament at the expense of one of my rooting interests, the good old U.S. of A. To get into that would force me into binge drinking, and with having to work today, that isn’t going to happen. But let’s just say Panama doesn’t not deserve to be going to Russia. (Sorry for the double negative, but you get it.) This friendly will allow the Panamanians to try out some new things offensively because they’re solid at the back.
I don’t expect either team to go all out in this one, so the -1.5 goal line (per Bovada) for Denmark seems a bit steep. I’ll take the visitors to cover in this one but still keep my mantra of picking home teams in friendly matches.
PREDICTION: Denmark 1 Panama 0 (Panama +1.5 [-125])
If you have any games you’d like me to pick over the week you can contact me on Twitter @TREVORutley. In addition to the available media listed for each game, be sure to try out our Gameview service while watching as well. Also, here is a link for my results throughout and the points system. Cheers!