Mayra Madrigal
World soccer has given us many surprises throughout history, and sometimes we think that this is due to some kind of miracle or magic that allows the teams that seem to be the weakest to win the championship in the worst scenarios.
We know the story of David and Goliath, where the weaker comes out on top and the weaker is the winner and in world soccer we have seen similar stories on the field. It is known that there is nothing written in soccer and that the last minute also has 60 seconds and anything can happen. While world soccer has given us comebacks we could never have imagined, it has also allowed us to see teams that were never considered contenders crowned champions.
Here are the 5 biggest surprises in world soccer:
1.- Leicester City – Champion Premier League 2016
Leicester City managed to save themselves from relegation in 2015 and a year later, under the guidance of coach Claudio Renieri, they were crowned champions of the English Premier League.
The English league is considered one of the best in the world and has many teams that are financially strong and therefore full of stars. A discreet Leicester achieved what seemed impossible and entered the history of world soccer as one of the biggest surprises. The coach who masterminded this feat was Italian Claudio Ranieri, and this same achievement boosted the careers of players such as N’Golo Kanté, Jamie Vardie, Riyad Mahrez and many more.
It is worth noting that this victory was not a close one, taking 10 points from second place, Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal.
2.- Uruguay National Team – Champion in the World Cup Brazil 1950
If you are a soccer fan, at some point in your life you must have heard about the famous “Maracanazo”. There have been many throughout history, but the first and most important one occurred at the 1950 World Cup in Brazil. The Brazilians were the home team and the clear favorites to win the World Cup that year, but they did not count on luck and soccer being on Uruguay’s side that day.
Brazil scored first thanks to Fiaca, but with goals by Schiaffino and Ghiggia, Uruguay was the winner of that match and snatched the World Cup from the host.
3.- Danish National Team – Champion Eurocopa 1992
A miracle, luck or simply destiny, we don’t know how, but the Danish national team managed to win the 1992 European Championship.
The Danish team went from failing to qualify to win the crown. The Yugoslavian national team was eliminated because of the war that broke out in their country and Denmark took its place.
This team arrived motivated and kept it up until the end, in the semifinals they faced the Netherlands, who were the tournament favorites. They easily got through that stage to face the mighty Germany, who had just won the World Cup at Italy 90. With authority, Denmark beat the Teutons.
4.- Greece National Team – Champion Eurocopa 2004
The Greek national team was inconspicuous during their entire Euro 2004 campaign and nobody expected them to reach the final, much less to beat Portugal, who already had Cristiano Ronaldo in their ranks.
Without having possession and without many chances, they were able to impose their style of play to achieve the feat. In the final against the Lusitanians, the Greek team only needed one goal to be crowned.
5.- United States National Team – Beat England in the World Cup Brazil 1950
We could not talk about historic surprises in world soccer without mentioning the United States team that made history in 1950 by beating England 1-0.
The Stars and Stripes participated in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil with a semi-professional team. They only won one of the three matches they faced and they won it against the English team. That victory is known as the “Miracle of Belo Horizonte”.
They were not the champion, nor was their best performance in a World Cup, but they beat the favorite.
