Schurrle & Ozil help Germany squeak past Algeria

Mesut Ozil scored the second against Algeria

Algeria gave Germany a big scare last night but the lack of a good final pass crushed them as Germany held on to win it in Extra Time.

Germany needed extra time to defeat a plucky Algeria 2-1 and set up a World Cup quarter-final showdown against France.

Joachim Low's men survived several scares throughout the 90 minutes of normal time in the last-16 tie in Porto Alegre, before Andre Schurrle and Mesut Ozil were on target at the start and end of extra time respectively.

There was still time for the Algerians to pull one back through Abdelmoumene Djabou in stoppage time but Germany were not to be denied their showdown against the French on Friday.

Algeria started the game brightly and had a good opportunity on nine minutes when Islam Slimani got clear down the left and beat Manuel Neuer to the ball as he rushed out of his area to try and clear. However the German keeper managed to get in a vital block tackle to deny the forward from converting into the empty net from an acute angle.

Germany's first attempt came in the 14th minute when Bastian Schweinsteiger hit a fierce drive which Rais M'Bolhi could only parry into the air before gathering at the second attempt.

Algeria quickly hit Germany on the counter attack and Sofiane Feghouli did well to get into the right of the German area but elected to fire over from a tight angle instead of trying to pick out El Arbi Soudani waiting in the middle for a tap-in.

On 17 minutes Faouzi Ghoulam whipped in a great cross from the left which eluded Jerome Boateng and found the head of Slimani who diverted the ball into the net only to be denied by an offside flag.

A minute later Ghoulam got on the end of a ball down the left of the area but curled his strike just wide of the far post.

Germany did test M'Bolhi on 24 minutes when he had to tip over a cross-shot from Ozil.

The Germans did start creeping in to the game as Ozil forced a parrying save from M'Bolhi before their best chance came on 41 minutes when the keeper pushed away a Toni Kroos strike only to then recover and block Mario Gotze's follow-up shot in the box.

Schurrle stepped off the bench during the interval and his first touch almost created a goal as his effort inside the area deflected off a defender and looped just wide of the far post. From the resulting corner Shkodran Mustafi got his head on to Kroos' cross but he headed straight at M'Bolhi

Both sides continued to press for a goal with Philipp Lahm curling a great right-foot strike from outside the area which M'Bolhi did well to push away for a corner on 55 minutes.

Algeria managed to get their second wind and they generated a couple of quick chances in the 75th minute as Feghouli hit an effort wide from the right of the area before Slimani fired straight at Neuer.

Five minutes later Germany should have taken the lead when Thomas Muller met a Sami Khedira cross in the middle but was denied by a brilliant save from M'Bolhi before Schurrle's follow up was blocked by Essaid Belkalem.

With no goals in normal time the Germans broke the deadlock in the second minute of extra time when Muller put in a low ball from the left of the box and Schurrle was on hand to score from close range.

On 101 minutes Algeria should have levelled when a corner dropped kindly to Mehdi Mostefa in the middle of the area but he somehow fired wide of the post with the goal gaping.

M'Bolhi then denied substitute Christoph Kramer as the clock ticked down but he could do nothing about Germany's second in the 119th minute. Ozil teed up Schurrle whose effort was blocked on the line by Belkalem so the Arsenal man did the job himself as he smashed the rebound into the net from close range.

There was still time for Algeria to get on the scoresheet as Djabou converted a Feghouli cross at the back post but it proved too little too late for the brave Africans.

Thomas Vermaelen set for ВЈ11m Manchester United switch - Transfer Talk Tues 1 July

The agent of Lorenzo Insigne has yet to hear a peep from Arsenal

A new backup goalie for Man City, a new striker for Liverpool, silence from an agent and a Belgian defender set for Old Trafford. All this in Tuesday's transfer talk roundup. 

Manchester City look to have found a back-up to Joe Hart, after reportedly agreeing a deal to sign Malaga shot-stopper Willy Caballero.

Spanish radio station Cadena Cope claims a deal has been brokered between the two clubs and that City are ready to pay 6million for the 32-year-old Argentinian.

Manuel Pellegrini worked with Caballero during his time in charge of Malaga and feels he can provide England number one Hart with serious competition, having seen Romanian understudy Costel Pantilimon join Sunderland this summer.

The agent of Napoli forward Lorenzo Insigne insists that Premier League side Arsenal are yet to make any kind of an official approach for his services.

Fabio Andreotti, speaking in an interview on radio station Radio Crc, said that his client was high on the wanted list of a number of top European clubs, but they are yet to receive a firm offer.

The 23-year-old has been heavily linked with a €25million move to The Emirates this summer, but Andreotti believes that the Serie A club will fight to keep him for next season.

Insigne featured just once for Italy at the World Cup after enjoying his best season yet for Napoli, securing Champions League football, one of the reasons the club are so confident of keeping him.

The Daily Mail understands that Manchester United will complete the signing of Thomas Vermaelen from Arsenal when he returns home from the World Cup with Belgium.

Louis van Gaal has placed him high on his wish list as he looks to add some experience to his defensive line, following the departures of Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand this summer.

The report claims that a wage has already been agreed in principle and the 28-year-old is confident that the rest of the details will be finalised upon his return.

Vermaelen has slipped down the pecking order at The Emirates, with Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny preferred by Arsene Wenger, and it is understood that he is eager to tie down a regular starting spot with a summer move.

Finally, Liverpool look set to beat of a number of top clubs to the signature of Fiorentina forward Juan Cuadrado, according to reports in the Daily Star.

Cuadrado has put himself in the shop window during this summer's World Cup in Brazil with some scintillating performances for Colombia, who have secured a place in the quarter-finals.

Juventus were keen on the 26-year-old and failed with a bid prior to the World Cup, but it is understood that the Reds are now leading the way.

The winger is expected to cost in the region of 30million, after proving his quality on the world stage, and will add an extra dimension to Brendan Rodgers' squad as they look to compete on two fronts.

World Cup 2014 11am Bulletin: Germany blip a required evil

Germany were forced to go the distance to shrug off Algeria

Germany backers shouldn't be alarmed by their disappointing round-of-16 display against Algeria...

The volume of goals has decreased since this engrossing World Cup entered its knockout phase, but the quality of the entertainment hasn't subsided even slightly, as Germany and Algeria's gripping goalless draw - which morphed into a 2-1 Germany win after extra time - demonstrated.

The only onlookers who didn't enjoy the spectacle were Germany backers, with their disjointed performance considered to hurt their 5.59/2-rated chances of lifting the trophy for the fourth time.

However, all that matters is that they got through despite delivering their least accomplished display of the competition to date against an Algeria side who threatened plenty. Manuel Neuer's sweeper-keeper bursts of his line every five minutes or so may prove a lasting memory of this World Cup.

Indeed, the trends suggest that if you are going to win the tournament, you almost certainly need to go the distance at least once, as five of the last six champions encountered extra time on their path to greatness.

Spain's bonus 30 minutes came in the 2010 final, Italy needed more than 90 in the 2006 semis and final, France required extra time in the 1998 round-of-16 and penalties in the quarters, Brazil succeeded in a shootout in 1994's final and Germany spot-kicked their way past England in the 1990 semis.

It should also provide encouragement to both Germany and France, who struck twice in the closing 12 minutes to overcome Nigeria, that eventual winners rarely breeze through the round-of-16.

Spain saw off Portugal 1-0 in 2010, Italy sunk Australia 1-0 in 2006 with an iffy injury-time penalty, Brazil conquered Belgium 2-0 in 2002, Paraguay took France to extra time in 1998 and Brazil nudged past USA 1-0 in 1994.

Germany are 5.59/2 third favourites in the World Cup winner market, with France fifth in line for the throne at 9.617/2.

The identity of the two remaining quarter-finalists will be confirmed this evening as Argentina face Switzerland and Belgium oppose USA. Paul Robinson expects Switzerland to prove trickier customers than the market forecasts, while Evan Bartlett is backing Belgium to do the business.

Wimbledon 2014: Nishikori has the game to derail Raonic

Sean expects Nishikori to be celebrating again today

Tennis expert Sean Calvert enjoyed another big priced tennis winner yesterday at Wimbledon 2014 and he's siding with Kei Nishikori as underdog against Milos Raonic today...

Week two of The Championships Wimbledon 2014 began in good style on Monday when John Isner landed my opening bet of the day at 3.814/5.

My wager on the big man to take the opening set over Feli Lopez 7-6 came to fruition in the predictable tie break fest between the two big servers, but Andy Murray wasted a glut of chances to land my second bet of the day.

Firstly, the rain break in set two derailed the Brit, who was two breaks ahead and then in set three Murray had five break point chances to serve for the match at 5-3, but blew them all.

Over on Court 1 the rain didn't help Leo Mayer's cause either, with the Argentine being called off at 5-6, 30-15 in set two, but in the ensuing tie break Mayer double faulted at 6-7 to lose it and his chance was gone.

Further rain on Monday means that Tuesday's schedule sees the fourth round complete today in the bottom half of the draw, which means that Stan Wawrinka and Feli Lopez are a day behind on rest.

This displeased the Swiss greatly, who blurted out that "they don't listen to the player - they just do what they think is good for them," meaning the Wimbledon schedulers.

I wouldn't worry about it too much, Stan, you might not be in the tournament after today.

Wawrinka and Lopez clash at around 1pm on Court 2 and clearly this one will be decided in the main by fitness, with Lopez having played a lot of tennis over the last few weeks.

The overs mark has been set predictably high and there's a little bit too much guesswork on fitness for my liking in this match, although I would definitely be with Lopez if he hasn't played so much lately.

In the 2pm clash on Court 3 I like the look of Kei Nishikori with pretty much a day's rest against Milos Raonic.

I'm not buying into the Raonic myth on grass just yet and this match will tell us a lot about whether or not the Canadian has made enough adjustments to his game to be a threat on this surface.

Personally, I don't think he has, and if Kei is fit - which is always questionable - he has the tools to unravel the Raonic game and expose his limitations.

Nishikori did well to finish off his tough clash with Simone Bolelli in quick time yesterday and assuming he's fine physically he has the knowledge that he can best Raonic in tight encounters from their career series, which he leads 2-0.

The Japanese star has certainly been one player to benefit from having a former player as coach, with Michael Chang seemingly having added a new dimension to Kei's game this year, with a tougher mentality being one clear improvement.

One of his strengths has always been the return of serve and he hits the ball so cleanly off both wings that I suspect Raonic will have to serve amazingly well to through this one.

The 2.265/4 seems very reasonable to me and will be my bet of Tuesday at Wimbledon.

Recommended Bet
Back Nishikori to beat Raonic at 2.265/4

Wimbledon 2014 profit and loss

Staked: 200.00 (Based on 10 per bet)
Return: 304.00
Profit: +104.00

World Cup 2014 Report: Germany's champion credentials put to the test in extra time win

Valid Halidhozic's Algeria side were ultimately disappointed last night

The most one-sided Last 16 clash according to the pre-match betting - Germany 1.141/7 to qualify versus Algeria 8.07/1 - turned out to be a real test of mettle for Joachim Low's young but experienced side...

Having ridden out an early storm of intent-filled, incisive attacking play from the North Africans, Germany became the better side, but try as they might - and they tried! - they couldn't find a way past the calm excellence of Algerian stopper, Ras M'Bohli, during normal time. Pre-match 0-0 backers celebrated a 17.5n/a winner.

In the opening half hour of the match, Algeria had unlocked the German defence at will, with Manuel Neuer called into the role of auxiliary sweeper on multiple occasions to deal with threatening balls played in behind the beleaguered Mertesacker and Boateng.

Backers of the Germans to win the World Cup will be concerned that more composed attackers - such as Karim Benzema or Mathieu Valbuena - might make more of the acreage the Algerians discovered behind the German back four, but were unable to exploit.

However, having witnessed France underwhelm for long periods against Nigeria, and then seen Germany progress against an Algerian side who performed at the widely agreed upper limit of their ability, it's Low's side who remain firmly in favour with Betfair customers for Friday's clash of the European superpowers.

Germany remain available at 5.59/2 for 2014 Winner. Prior to kick-off, they'd been trading at odds of 11.5n/a to beat Algeria in extra time.

Thomas Muller, following an epic but ultimately futile battle to get the ball past M'Bohli drifts in the betting for Golden Boot as he remains on four goals, one behind James Rodriguez.

Paul Pogba scores as France eek it out against Nigeria

Paul Pogba celebrates scoring the opening goal

Nigeria played great but when it came down to it, it was the French who took their chances and sealed a quarter-final against Germany.

France are through to the World Cup quarter-finals after two late goals saw off the challenge of hard-working Nigeria in Brasilia.

The game ended with France strolling to victory but for a long time it looked as though the Super Eagles would get the better of the highly-rated French in a compelling match.

Both teams started the game with real purpose, France breaking forward in numbers early on and putting in some dangerous low crosses courtesy of Blaise Matuidi and Mathieu Debuchy.

Nigeria weren't without a threat themselves though and Efe Ambrose picked out Peter Odemwingie at the far post with his cross from the left-hand side. The Stoke City striker was unable to bring the ball under his spell though and Debuchy was quick to clear.

The Super Eagles then thought they had taken the lead when the dangerous Ahmed Musa's cross was stabbed home by Emmanuel Emenike in the 19th minute, only for the African's celebrations to be cut short by the linesman's flag.

The decision looked tight at the time and replays showed the Fenerbahce striker may well have been in line with Patrice Evra.

France's response to Emenike's disallowed goal was to create the best chance of the first half, Paul Pogba linking up brilliantly with Mathieu Valbuena before producing an excellent volley which Vincent Enyeama somehow kept out.

Chances proved hard to come by after that, Emenike's long-range effort being well-saved by Hugo Lloris as the teams went in level at the break.

Nigeria came out with real purpose in the second half and began pushing the French back, a series of corners keeping Les Bleus on their toes. Had Odemwingie or Musa done better with their delivery from set-pieces then it might have been a different story but too often the corners were either too deep or under-hit.

France coach Didier Deschamps can't have liked what he was seeing and, in the 62nd minute, made a crucial change, bringing on Antoine Griezmann in place of Olivier Giroud.

Odemwingie then had Nigeria's best chance of the second half in the 64th minute, cutting in from the right before unleashing a powerful low drive which Lloris did well to beat away. Odemwingie's effort was to be the African side's last real moment of note in opposition territory as France slowly began to take over.

Karim Benzema, who had been quiet up until Griezmann's introduction, went close to opening the scoring in the 70th minute when he worked a one-two with Pogba, only for Enyeama to deny him when one-on-one. The rebound off the Real Madrid man then looked as though it would roll in but Victor Moses was quick to hack the ball clear off the line.

The French were beginning to move through the gears and in the 77th minute Yohan Cabaye unleashed an unstoppable half-volley which looked destine for the top corner, only for the crossbar to deny the Paris Saint-Germain midfielder.

Two minutes later though and France made the breakthrough. Valbuena's corner was flapped at by Enyeama, the Nigeria goalkeeper inadvertently helping it on to Pogba who headed home from six yards.

The 1998 world champions then set about delivering the killer blow, Benzema forcing Enyeama into a good save as he tipped his header over the bar.

The Lille goalkeeper was called into action again five minutes later when Griezmann flashed in a strike which forced Enyeama to parry the ball behind for a corner.

The French eventually sealed their place in the quarter-finals in the 90th minute, the Nigeria defence switching off from a free-kick and allowing Valbuena to walk into the box before he fired in a cross which Joseph Yobo helped home as he tried to get to the ball ahead of Griezmann. It was tough on the Nigeria captain, who was winning his 100th cap for his country.

The result mean Nigeria will have to wait another four years before trying to reach their first World Cup quarter-final, while France march on to Rio where they will face either Germany or Algeria.

Against All Odds: Belgium and USA to serve up a goal-fest

You don't get many more animated managers than Jurgen

There's more last 16 action from the World Cup tonight and Paul Robinson thinks we'll be in for at least three goals when Belgium take on the United States.

Belgium v United States
Tuesday July 1, 21:00 BST
Live on BBC 1

Belgium picked up maximum points from their three Group H fixtures but you wouldn't exactly call their performances convincing. They needed two late goals to edge past Algeria in their opener and they then went on to beat both Russia and South Korea 1-0 in a pretty unimpressive manner.

With so much attacking talent at his disposal, manager, Marc Wilmots, must be disappointed that his side have only managed four goals thus far. Eden Hazard has been below his best and Romelu Lukaku is doing his best to prove Jose Mourinho right. This could be a decent fixture for them to get going though as the American defence is pretty leaky and if they can find the net early on, their confidence in front of goal will start to return.

The United States surprised many, including myself, by qualifying from a group that contained Germany, Portugal and Ghana. I had them earmarked for the wooden spoon but they got off to an incredibly fast start against the Africans and never looked back.

Jurgen Klinsmann has a rich World Cup pedigree and you should never rule him or his teams out on the biggest stage of them all. The Stars and Stripes aren't blessed with any world class players but they perform as one and should give the Belgians a real game. I can definitely see them scoring - the 1-0 defeat to Germany ended a six match run of them scoring twice each time - but I have genuine concerns about their defending.

The market is suggesting that this will be a low-scoring encounter but at around the 1.684/6 mark, I'm willing to take the chance on there being at least three goals. That's why, I'm making under 2.5 my lay of the day.

Recommended Bet
Lay Under 2.5 goals in Belgium v USA @ 1.684/6 

2014 P/L (1pt each bet)

Wagered: 175 pts
Returned: 189.30 pts
P/L: + 14.63 pts (after commission)
(2013 P/L: + 3.80 pts)
(2012 P/L: + 9.60 pts)