Soccer Underdogs that Came Out on Top
Sports fans love an underdog-made-good story, and the world of soccer has many of these to tell. What makes for a good upset, by definition, is an outcome that goes against conventional wisdom, and proves to punters and players alike that while there’s life there’s hope, and that sometimes not giving up is the answer.
Greece’s 1 – 0 Win over Portugal
The reason this match makes any list is not that it was a huge upset necessarily, as the Greeks had already managed to beat Portugal 2 – 1 in the group stages of the Euro 2004. What made it such a colossal upset was that the Greeks managed to win the Euro 2004 at all – they were the least likely champions of a major tournament of all time.
In the group stages of the tournament, they managed to win once, lose once, and draw once, and conceded 4 goals and won 4. In the knockout stages of the competition, they managed to beat France with a final score of 1 – 0, the Czech Republic with 1 – 0 with extra time, and, finally, Portugal with 1 – 0.
The Greeks managed to grind their opponents down, and made sure that their tactics and formation limited their opposing team’s’ responses. Timely scoring was another hugely contributing factor, with all of the Greek team’s goals occurring after halftime, and this allowed them to enjoy narrow wins repeatedly, with the opposition team left with very little chance to recover.
Team USA Beating England 1 – 0
The 1950 World Cup saw US striker Joe Gaetjens scoring the game’s only goal and ensuring the English defeat. This victory has been immortalised in both book and film as possibly the biggest upset in the history of the World Cup, and winning soccer bets that day would have definitely favoured those who supported the underdog.
Uruguay’s 2 – 1 Win Over Brazil
The 1950 World Cup also saw this spectacular upset, although, contrary to popular belief, it did not occur during the final –because there wasn’t one. The 1950 World Cup decided on the champion with a round-robin comp which featured the winning teams of the 4 groups in preliminary play. When it came to the final match of the last round, Brazil, who was hosting the Cup, only needed to attain a draw in order to seal the deal and claim the title.
Uruguay, however, was not ready to oblige the Brazilians. Although they were trailing 1 – 0 by the time the second half of the game came round, Uruguay went on to win with a final score of 2 – 1, with over 200 000 Brazilian soccer fans witnessing one of the most well-known soccer upsets of all time.
Legend has it that Pele swore to win a World Cup after he witnessed his father’s weeping after this match had come to an end, and, as we all know, he has kept that vow.
Upsets Keep Punters and Spectators Happy
These kinds of upsets are what make soccer such an incredibly interesting game to watch and bet on. They ensure that even the most confident punter should weigh up their wagers very carefully – and if possible, take as much advantage of live in-play betting as possible
