It is now very exciting for the four lucky teams left in the game with a shot at some sweet cash for their club.
Before the World Cup kicked off, we asked for admins of Irish amateur soccer teams to apply to join a World Cup Sweepstakes run by Ladbrokes. The deal was that Ladbrokes will place a €200 bet on each country at Ladbrokes prices and whichever team won collects all the winning cash.
We joked about the huge prize a Costa Rica win would net in the original piece so we rang our friend at Ladbrokes, Hayley O’Connor, to find out how she was feeling watching the game on Saturday and we think it is safe to say she was very pleased indeed that Los Ticos finally bit the dust on penalties at the quarter-final stage.
Hayley says: “I hadn’t given Costa a second thought until I was in the Ladbrokes studio about to preview Wimbledon. Waiting for a World Cup segment to finish, I overheard Costa Rica mentioned and how they might surprise against Holland. I casually searched for their opening price and – thinking I had read 400/1 gasped loudly. On second glance, realising I had missed an additional zero, I think I went into a mini catatonic state for a while until it sank in.”
In an attempt to calm down, Hayley phoned a colleague for advice, which after a long silence was: “Maybe you should back them now yourself at fifties, just in case – to give yourself some options…”
Hayley added: “It was the most agonising football match I’ve ever watched. I knew they had a mountain to climb but as the clock ticked on that mountain was looking more like the Sugar Loaf than Everest.”
She added: “By half time, I was exploring the option of faking my own death and starting a new life in Costa Rica itself.”
Luckily for Hayley’s employment prospects, Tim Krul did the business and Costa Rica are on the way home, leaving just four teams in with a shot at success.
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It is getting so close these four teams are probably already spending the money on new kits and balls but we will know our winner for sure next Monday.
To get a free €100 bet, and check out the odds on the semi-finalists, get on over to Ladbrokes
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