posted June 20, 2008 at 12:42 EST in Soccer Articles

After Germany’s stunning defeat of Portugal on Thursday, what can online sportbook soccer betting fans say about Croatia? The team was absolutely brilliant against the Germans, dominating the world powerhouse from the beginning of the match to the end of the match. Croatia was the better team that day.

In Turkey the Croatians face a team that could surprise them. There isn’t another team in Euro 2008 with the heart of the Turks. They faced certain elimination down two nil to the Czech Republic in their last game but found a way to win by a score of 3 to 2. They also have one of the most talented, if not the most talented, manager in the tournament in Fatih Terim. But injuries could hurt Turkey as they will be without captain Emre Belozoglu who is out with an injury. He’s not the only banged up player on Turkey’s squad. They will also be without Emre Gungor and defender Servet Cetin. Turkey faces an uphill battle in this quarterfinal match.

Here are the BetUS Euro betting odds for this match.

Croatia - ½ - 125 - 125 O 2 - 140 O 1 ½ + 120

U 1 ½ - 150

Turkey + ½ + 105 + 350 U 2 + 120 O ½ - 170

U ½ + 140

Draw + 220

This match is going to come down to a very simple thing. How will Turkey respond without some of their best players?

Manager Fatih Terim has already stated that the Turks will push the ball forward against the Croatians. As good of an idea as that seems the truth is that the Turks could find themselves in a desperate situation should they try to force the action.

Croatia goes into this match with a ton of confidence. Even more important is the fact that they beat one of the teams that has made it to the semi-finals, Germany. They beat Germany fairly easy in that match by playing solid defense and taking chances on the offensive side when they could.

Turkey could definitely provide Croatia with those same chances. I don’t see anything else that can be done in this game. The Croatians look like a stand-out online wager.

Turkey has too many key injuries to be productive in this match. That means that Croatia should win easily.

The BetUS online sportsbook betting odds on Croatia to beat the Turks in Friday’s Euro 2008 game is Croatia – 125.

That’s the online wager that I am going to make. I will be betting on the Croatians to beat the Turks and make it into the semi-final round