Mexico faces another quick exit against Argentina

Soccer Betting Lines

06/26/2010 - Johannesburg, South Africa (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Mexico advanced to the knockout stage of the FIFA World Cup for the fifth consecutive time, but to end its run of four straight round of 16 exits, will have to beat Argentina on Sunday.

Mexico finished second to Uruguay in Group A, and its reward in the first game of the knockout round is unbeaten Group B winner Argentina.

Argentina won all three of its group games, disposing of Nigeria, South Korea, and Greece by combined scores of 7-1.

Mexico opened with a 1-1 draw against South Africa, then topped France 2-0 and ended with a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay to set up the knockout stage opener against Argentina at Ellis Park Stadium.

"We're hurting after this game and this result. We're left with a sour taste in our mouths. It's true that we've qualified and that's the most important thing, but we need to go over all the errors we made," Mexico defender Rafael Marquez said.

"It'll be crucial to work hard and improve ahead of what's to come."

Marquez rescued Mexico in its opener with a 79th-minute equalizer, then posted a more impressive result against France thanks to second-half goals by Javier Hernandez and Cuauhtemoc Blanco.

Although Mexico basically had a knockout stage berth sealed entering its group finale against Uruguay, midfielder Giovani Dos Santos admitted the team has to improve or it faces another quick exit against Argentina.

"We've got a lot of things to work on. It's vital for us to set the record straight as a team from now on," Dos Santos said.

Argentina coach Diego Maradona, who led the country to its last title in 1986, has to be excited after the first stage. Argentina had four different scorers in the first three games, and Lio Messi hasn't found the net yet.

Messi has played extremely well, though, and if he ends his scoring drought in the knockout stage, Maradona will be able to shower more praise on his side.

"The team did a fantastic job. Every single one of my players did exactly what I wanted them to do," Maradona said after the Greece match.

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FOOTBALL BETTING : Crabtree's base deal: six years, $32 million

Football Betting

In the wake of the news that the 49ers have signed receiver Michael Crabtree after an extended holdout, there has been not a hint of the dollars to be paid to Crabtree.

And since this means that his agent hasn't leaked the numbers, it means that his agent feels no specific motivation to do so.

Possibly because his agent isn't all that thrilled to have his name on the deal.

So the numbers will come from sources other than Crabtree's agent. And we've gotten our mitts into them.

Per a league source, Crabtree has signed a six-year, $32 million contract. (The total includes guaranteed money, base salaries, and the one-time incentive based on achieving minimum playing time.)

The deal also includes $17 million in guaranteed money.

As reported elsewhere, the deal can void to five years based on performance triggers, wiping out a final year base salary of $4 million. But they won't be easily reached.

The source tells us that, in his first four seasons (including 2009), Crabtree must either qualify for two Pro Bowls, or he must qualify for one Pro Bowl in one year and he must participate in 80 percent of the offensive snaps in a separate year in which the team makes the playoffs.

In other words, if in 2010 he qualifies for the Pro Bowl and the team makes the playoffs and he participates in 80 percent of the snaps, he'll still need to make it to the Pro Bowl or achieve the 80-percent/playoffs in another season.

Since the chances of Crabtree making the Pro Bowl or participating in 80 percent of the offensive snaps this year is roughly zero percent, he'll have three years to get it done.

And it won't be easy. Frankly, he'll be hard pressed to make it to one Pro Bowl in three years with the likes of Larry Fitzgerald, Calvin Johnson, Anquan Boldin, Steve Smith, the other Steve Smith, Hakeem Nicks, DeSean Jackson, Johnny Knox, Percy Harvin, Greg Jennings, Roddy White, T.J. Houshmandzadeh in the same conference for sportsbook betting.

So, by all appearances, it's a six-year deal. And at $17 million in guaranteed money, the per-year guarantee is a tepid $2.83 million per year.

There's another problem with the deal -- it has no mid-tier incentive package. Instead, the additional $8 million that Crabtree can earn (pushing the max value to six years, $40 million) requires the kind of unrealistic, mega-star performances that no rookie is likely to ever achieve.

So while the contract paid to Packers defensive tackle B.J. Raji covers five years and pays $22.5 million, he has the ability (if he's a solid player) to make up the difference between his base deal and Crabtree's five-year, $28 million haul via the mid-tier incentive package in Raji's deal.

And unless Crabtree meets the performance thresholds necessary to void the sixth year, he'll be stuck under contract for another year at a base salary of only $4 million.

There's one other area of concern with the deal. Crabtree, per the source, received no option bonus. Instead, he has significant money tied to a fairly new device known as a "discretionary salary advance," which unlike an opition bonus is subject to forfeiture if Crabtree decides in a year or two that he wants to hold out for a better deal. (We're also told that the 49ers have included language that would make certain escalators subject to forfeiture, too.)

Meanwhile, the deal falls well short of the mark for which Crabtree and agent Eugene Parker were aiming -- the five-year, $38.25 million contract paid by the Raiders to receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey, the seventh overall pick in the draft.

Even if Crabtree successfully voids the final year, he'll make more than $2 million per year less on average than Heyward-Bey.

Thus, as we explained earlier in the day, this is a deal that Crabtree could have done in July, which would have given him a much better chance of making a contribution to the 49ers during his rookie year.

So while the final outcome can be described as win-win, the broader view suggests that it's really a lose-lose situation.

NFL Betting Lines

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