Unpredictability is one of the main ingredients that makes any sports so much more appealing to all of us. Everybody loves a good underdog or a comeback story. We have listed a few such unexpected events in sports that surprised almost everyone.
1950 Football World Cup Final.
The 1950 FIFA World cup was a highly anticipated international tournament because the two previous world cups if 1942 and 1946 were cancelled due to World War II. The World cup final was to be played between powerhouse Brazil and lowly Uruguay. The host country - Brazil was the clear favourites.The had won all their games and scored a record setting 40+ goals during their league matches. The whole nation had already planned celebrations, songs, and parades and were pretty much ready for the World cup win.
On the other side was Uruguay – a country with a tiny population but with an immense heart for the game. Uruguay did the greatest upset in football of all time by coming from one gaol behind to ultimately winning the match by the final whistle. The win was so unexpected that they didn't even have the trophy with Uruguay's name ready to present. The Uruguay captain, Obdulio Varela, spent the afternoon in a bar in Rio, in a state of shock.The playerslater had to be snuck out of the country dressed as women to avoid the Brazilian fans.
From this point forward history changed for Brazil. The players, especially the goalkeeper, were shunned by the entire population. The Maracaná Stadium was later painted sky blue honouring the promise that when the stadium was constructed, the winner of the tournament's colours would adorn the new stadium, and it's still there today. The iconic Brazilian yellow jerseys of today are in fact a post-traumatic-design done after 1950 to replace its original white jersey after of the greatest upset in football history.
Endurance of an old farmer
Australia hosts a 543.7-mile (875-kilometer) of endurance racing from Sydney to Melbourne,which is regarded as one of the world’s most gruelling ultra-marathons. This five-days race is only attempted by specialized world-class athletes.In 1983, a sixty-one-year-old farmer named Cliff Young showed up at the start of this race in his overalls and work boots, not as a spectator but as a racer, much to everyone’s surprise and bemusement.
The professional athletes who participated in this ultra-marathon generally run about eighteen hours a day and sleep only for the remaining six hours.Cliff however kept running without sleep because he was used to it after years of running around after his flock of sheep. By avoiding sleep, each night he came a little closer to the leading pack. By the final night, he had surpassed all of the young, world-class athletes and managed to cross the finish line first and even set a new course record.
Cliff was surprised when he was awarded the winning prize of $10,000.He wasn’t aware that there was a prize and insisted that he did not enter for the money. He gave away all of his winnings to several other runners, which created his legend that is still popular in all Australia.
