Germany Favored to Beat England

Germany is favored to beat England in what is shaping up as the biggest contest on a day of international friendlies and world cup qualifiers.

Such was Germany's dominance of England at one stage in the famous footballing rivalry that English hall of famer Gary Lineker once remarked, "Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win."

In actual fact, England has won 14 of its 30 fixtures with Germany, with six draws. However, eight of those wins came before 1966, when the English famously beat Germany in the World Cup Final.

Tonight's odds
Germany is carrying odds of 11/10 at UK bookmaker Ladbrokes to win Wednesday. England is 5/2, while the draw option is 23/10.

In other friendly matches, 2004 European champion Greece is considered a 2/1 chance to defeat 2006 World Cup champion Italy, 7/5.

Scotland is 9/2 to cause a huge upset against the Diego Maradona-coached Argentina, 4/6. However, the Scottish have a formidable record at their Hampden Park home, having recently defeated France there in World Cup 2008 qualifying.

The stakes are higher in the Asian confederation, where World Cup qualifying matches are taking place Wednesday. Australia is a 5/6 favorite to continue its unbeaten run when it travels to Bahrain. The home side is 13/5.

In the one to watch Thursday, Brazil is 4/5 to defeat co-linguists Portugal, 7/2.