Silent Victories – A Tale of Giants and the Underdogs

By Emmanuel Ebimoh

Every World Cup game brings with it a certain kind of surprise or expectation. No doubt, since the beginning of the biggest football fiesta in 1930, we’ve been thrilled with some of the most overwhelming upsets and sometimes, devastating results. For many years since its inception, teams participating in the World Cup have almost been separated into two undeniable categories: the ‘Giants’ and the ‘Underdogs’. Most times before a game, we are carried away by the array of stars lined up in a particular team that we give no chance to the opponents. Not taking anything away from the sheer brilliance of talented players and tactical display of teams to win matches, the disparity between certain teams in the World Cup over the years has been tumultuous. To get a clearer picture, let’s look at some heartbreaking results in past World Cup games.

In the 1938 World Cup, just eight years after the competition began, Sweden came up against Cuba in a quarter final match. Although the Cubans went into the match confident after winning their previous match against Romania, they were walloped 8-0 by the Swedes. It was the first highest defeat in a World Cup game. But there were more to come. In 1954 World Cup, Hungary, who were favourites to win the competition that year, opened up their tournament with a 9-0 demolition of South Korea in Zurich. It was South Korea’s first appearance at the tournament and the Hungarians gave them a destructive reception.

In the 1982 World Cup, when Hungary filed out again against El Salvador, their team wasn’t as fantastic as the formidable team of the 50s. But El Salvador obviously went into the match as the underdogs. In the end, the victory was expected but the result was devastating. Hungary clinically put their opponents to the sword with a 10-1 victory, to rack up the only double digit win in World Cup history.

Coming into the 21st century, the trend of the ‘Giant’ and ‘Underdog’, and also some mind-blowing results in the World Cup continued. In 2002, when Korea and Japan hosted the tournament, previous 3-times champions, Germany, started their campaign with an 8-0 smashing of Saudi Arabia. It was the perfect start for the Germans as they went ahead to the final of the tournament where they lost 2-0 to Brazil.

However, what would arguably be the most shocking result ever in the World Cup history came 12 years later, in 2014, when Brazil hosted the tournament. Playing in the semi-final, the host were expected to put up a fine display in front of her expectant supporters. They played host to Germany, maybe a replay of the 2002 final match. The Germans had only one thing in mind – revenge, and they did get their revenge albeit totally humiliating their opponent in the process. It was a heartbreaking 7-1 destruction of Brazil, much to the shock of football fans around the world.

So far, the games in the ongoing 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia have been intriguing and mind-blowing, yet one could argue that the trend of ‘Giants’ and ‘Underdogs’ is slowly dissolving into hard fought battles on the pitch. We’ve been treated to mouthwatering games that has seen a revolution in the mind of people and left many in disagreement with the final outcomes. Yesterday, in the game between Portugal and Morocco, the stakes were high on the side of Portugal, with the presence of danger man, Cristiano Ronaldo, to destroy their African opponents. But the events on the pitch completely betrayed many expectations as Morocco, though they lost the game courtesy of an early goal by Ronaldo, completely outplayed the favourites and gave them a good run for their money. It was a silent victory for Portugal yet an undeserving loss for the African side.

European giants and 2010 champions, Spain, and South American heavyweight, Uruguay, filed out against Iran and Saudi Arabia respectively in their second games of the World Cup yesterday. The Iranians and Saudi Arabians, who probably went into their respective games as underdogs, played beyond many expectations and were deserving of at least a point each. With respect to the teams they played against, the performances of these ‘lesser teams’ based on FIFA rankings showed an arguable improvement and a drastic shift in the hierarchy of football on the pitch. Although both Iran and Saudi Arabia lost by a narrow one goal margin in their respective games, it was obvious that the reign of the Giants is gradually coming to an end.

Emmanuel Ebimoh is a Writer, Blogger, and social media strategist. You can reach him on Facebook and LinkedIn at Emmanuel Ebimoh. Email: [email protected]