They say the ball is round and that anything can happen in football. Such is the unpredictability of football that it adds an element of surprise to this game. It is akin to David vs Goliath. Idealists and romanticists will always root for the underdog. That is the reason why Rocky films are so popular. Here we are dealing with reality and not fiction. It is in this arena where the underdog can flourish and triumph. Think about it. We have so many improbable cases of the impossible becoming possible. Way back in 1992, Denmark did not even qualify for the European championship. They got in only after Yugoslavia was disqualified due to political instability. Denmark knew of their entry only 10 days before the Championship began. Denmark quickly recalled their team of players from their holidays. Denmark struggled in the early games in the group stages losing to Swede and drawing 0-0 with England before getting their act together and beating France 2-1 in the last group match.
The Danes then beat hot favourites Dutch team in the semis by penalties after the deadlock at 2-2 could not be settled. The Danes astounded the football world again by beating the hapless Germans 2-0 in the finals. What an incredible feat!
The extraordinary tale of the underdog would continue with the emergence of Greece in the 2004 European Championship. Greece had a fairy tale start by beating host Portugal 2-1. Greece would then hold another hot favourite Spain to a 1-1 draw. Unexpectedly, they suddenly lost to the Russians 2-1 in the final group game. In the end, much fancied Spain got kicked out in the group stages. Greece and Portugal went on to the next round. Greece would meet France in the quarter finals and make France their next victim. Greece shut up shop after seizing their chance to score. In the semi finals, Greece met Czech Republic. Czech republic had boosted their credentials by beating both Holland and Germany in the group stages and winning a convincing 3-0 victory over the Danes in their quarters. Here, Greece again turn the tables by beating Czech Republic in extra time 1-0. Greece would then continue to defy the odds in the finals against host Portugal. Despite huge crowd support and their home grown stars, Portugal lost to Greece 1-0. Obviously, the host hadn't learnt their lesson. Also, Greece was buoyed by the fact they had beaten the host earlier in the group stages.
The most dramatic tale of underdog in football must be the way Liverpool captured their fifth European crown this year. They were in transition as a new manager came on board and their star player Michael Owen departed for Real Madrid. Liverpool also had to coped with injuries throughout most of their season. Liverpool barely scrapped through the group stages by the skin of the teeth. They had to beat Olymiakos by 2 goals to qualify for the next round. Things got off to a bad start with Olymiskos drawing first blood. Through sheer guts and determination Liverpool scored 3 goals through the efforts of Pongolle Mellor and Gerrard and forced their way into the next round.
In the round of 16, Liverpool was paired with Bayer Levekusen, conquerors of Real Madrid and Roma in the group stages. Liverpool slaughtered Leverkusen with an aggregate score of 6-2 despite pundits writing them off. http://www.hookedonlfc.com/sports/liverpool.htm then met another formidable foe in Juventus who had earlier overcome Real Madrid in the round of 16. Liverpool surprised Juventus with an early attack and won 2-1 in the first leg. In the return leg, Juventus and liverpool would play to a goalless draw thus securing liverpool's entry into the semis.
They would meet archrival chelsea who had already beaten them 3 times in the same season. Chelsea had earlier beaten another hot favourite for the title Barcelona to reach the semis. The first leg saw the goalless draw on http://www.hookedonlfc.com/sports/chelsea.htm home ground. Liverpool again adopted a lightning attack from the start which saw a Garcia goal. After that, Liverpool closed all gates and Chelsea could not breach the Liverpool defence. Thus it was on to the finals where liverpool would meet 6 time champions AC Milan.
They went down 3-0 by half time and yet managed to resurrect themselves to level the score in the 2nd half. The Liverpool keeper denied two superb strikes by Milan to send the match into a penalty shootout where Liverpool prevailed and won it 2-3.
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Written By: ian tham
