Legendary sports underdog stories
Underdogs are the unexpected winners that give everyone that sense of possibility. Against the most fantastic of odds, underdogs come seemingly from nowhere to cinch unexpected wins in history-making events. Prepare to be inspired, anything is possible!
Leicester City Won the Premier League Title
Leicester City was nearly relegated to the Football League Championship the for the 2015-16 season, so no one expected that this extreme underdog could actually go on to win the title. The odds of Leicester City achieving this win were 5000-to-1. At the time BBC published a list of hilarious events more likely than this win, citing the chances of discovering Elvis Presley alive at 2,000-to-1 and the odds of discovering the Loch Ness monster at just 500-to-1!
The club had never in it’s 132 year history, won the Premier League and no one expected anything different in 2015/16 season. But the 64 year old Italian coach Claudio Ranieri somehow transformed his team into champions while spending a fraction of what the big clubs were spending. In what is one of the greatest modern sports underdog stories, Leicester City they won the Premier League title in 96!
The top football leagues globally
The U.S. Took the Hockey Gold Medal in the Olympics
During the 1980 Olympics, the United States made underdog history by taking the gold medal in hockey in what became known as the €œMiracle on Ice.€ The Soviet team was the defending gold-medal winner with four consecutive medals in previous Olympics. The average age of the players on the American team was only 22. The odds of the team winning were 1,000-to-1. Nevertheless, the U.S. team defeated the Soviets 4-3, defeated Finland in the final, and took the gold.
The St. Louis Cardinals Won the World Series
In 2011, the chances of the St. Louis Cardinals winning the World Series were 999-to-1. The Cardinals were considered underdogs throughout the season, yet they overcame a deficit of 10 1/2 games to get into the playoffs on the last day. The Phillies were widely expected to take the World Series that year, yet the Cardinals beat them in game five.
Next, they overcame the overwhelming favourites, Milwaukee Brewers in four games. Finally, they took the series in game seven against the Rangers, making history in the Major League Baseball.
The greatest team rivalries in sport
Japan beat South Africa at the RWC 2015
Ask any rugby fan what their fondest memories are from the last 10 years and we bet the 2014 Rugby World Cup pool B game between South Africa and Japan will be mentioned. South Africa were overwhelming favourites world champions in both 1995 and 2007. Japan had not won a World Cup game since 1991, so this was expected to be business as usual.
But then Japan stunned two-time champions South Africa to cause arguably the biggest upset in rugby union history. The final score Japan 34 €“ South Africa 32 would see a new giant emerge in world rugby and earn Japan millions of new fans around the world. The Cherry Blossoms have become a highly entertaining team that are no longer underdogs in world rugby.
The greatest comebacks in sport
The United States Defeats England at the World Cup
In 1950, the odds of the USA beating England at the World Cup were 500-to-1. The American team had lost all seven of the previous international matches, and the English team was heavily favoured to win.
In their second game, the misfit of semi-pros who played together only once before the tournament, the USA provided one of the biggest shocks in the tournaments history by beating the massive favourites 1-0.
This game later got the Hollywood treatment in a film called The Miracle Match.
Greece winning the 2004 FIFA World Cup is another history underdog football story.
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