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Football - Tuesday's Internationals
By Dave Tindall February 5 2007
The glamour fixture of the international friendlies is Portugal v Brazil at Arsenal's Emirates Stadium. As well as the historical connections between the two, this game sees Phil Scolari pit the team he led to the 2006 World Cup semi-finals against the side he led to World Cup glory in 2002.

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Scolari's Portugal won their last meeting 2-1 in a friendly in March 2003 and, even though he's playing it down, he'd love to turn them over again.

Brazil are without Barcelona star Ronaldinho, who has a calf problem, while Ronaldo has been left out of the squad entirely. Adriano does get a recall though - his first since Brazil's World Cup flop.

The Brazilians are unbeaten since Dunga took over after Germany 2006 but Portugal certainly look big at 7/2. Let's not forget, they progressed further in the last World Cup so it's only really long-term reputation which makes Brazil clear favourites to win this match-up on neutral soil.

However, Brazil are hard to beat so the 2/1 'Draw No Bet' option is perhaps the wise play here.

Cristiano Ronaldo is in the form of his life and, as well as being prolific for Manchester United, has a fine scoring record for his country.

He's worth a small play at 10/1 to score the first goal (each-way terms are 1/3 1,2,3, 4 at Bet Direct).

Northern Ireland are favourites to beat Wales in Tuesday's friendly at Windsor Park.

Lawrie Sanchez's men have seven points from four games in qualification for Euro 2008 and are clearly on a sharp upward curve.

That contrasts with Wales, who sit sixth in Group D with just three points from three games so, in theory, the hosts are worth a bet.

However, Northern Ireland are riddled with injuries, with David Healy - their record goalscorer - probably the biggest loss.

There's also the fact that Wales took four points off Northern Ireland in the last World Cup qualifiers which included a 3-2 win for the Welsh in Belfast.

Wales were in terrible form at the time having failed to win a competitive game in 32 months and their opener from Simon Davies was the first goal they'd scored in 491 minutes of football.

John Toshack's men are 9/5 for a repeat while Northern Ireland are 6/4 to prevail but neither price appeals.

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By Bettingzone.co.uk
Used with permission.

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