Dublin are well on course for the drive for five. No team yet in this years championship campaign have come close to them. Are they unbeatable or can Mayo turn the form table on it’s head and beat them this weekend. A Mayo team that could well have been knocked out much earlier in the championship against the favourites that have blitzed all around them in recent years. You just never know in sport. Anything is possible and to remind you of this, here are five memorable shocks that shook sport.
- Leicester City winning the premier league
Leicester started the campaign as 5,000-1 outsiders for the title after almost being relegated last season.
But they lost just three league games in what had been described as a “fairytale” and the “most unlikely triumph in the history of team sport”.
2. Japan beat South Africa at 2015 rugby world cup
Shock results are always possible in soccer because you can pack your defence and, with a bit of luck, sneak a win with one decisive counter-attack. But rugby is different. There is such a gap between the weak and strong that favourites rarely slip up. That is why Japan’s 34-32 victory over South Africa in Brighton last September sent shockwaves around the world. You could argue that the Springboks didn’t take the Japanese challenge seriously. But they’d started with a 15 with 851 caps – the most experienced South Africa team in rugby history. Yet Japan showed no fear and went at the hot favourites from the start.
3. Wimbledon beat Liverpool in 1988 FA Cup Final
The 1988 FA Cup Final was the 107th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 14 May 1988 at Wembley Stadium and was contested between Wimbledon and Liverpool, the dominant English club side of the 1980s and newly crowned league champions.
In one of the biggest shocks in the history of the competition, Wimbledon won 1–0 to win the cup for the only time in their history; they had just completed their second season in the Football League First Division and had only been in the Football League for 11 years.
4. The New York Giants defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII
An instant classic, the 2008 Super Bowl saw the upstart New York Giants pull off a massive upset when they ruined the undefeated New England Patriots’ perfect season run of 18 victories and 0 losses. An Eli Manning 13-yard touchdown pass with 35 seconds left on the clock sealed the deal for New York and broke the heart of Tom Brady fanatics all over the country. That being said, the Patriots themselves managed to nab an upset victory at last year’s Super Bowl LI by overcoming the Atlanta Falcon’s 28-3 lead to win the game 34-28 in overtime.
5. Greece win the 2004 Euros
This was one of those unbelievable moments in football where an underdog side continued to belie the odds time after time. Scoring only more than a goal a game once in the entire tournament, Greece hardly played attractive football, yet there can be no arguments that they certainly played winning football. Beating Portugal 1-0 in the final game, Theodoros “Theo” Zagorakis robbing Ronaldo of a Euros winners medal is about the best underdog narrative you could get.
