Sports are loved by all people around Africa for the fun and excitement they bring. Whether you like to simply watch them or make some money from games with sports betting offers, they are a very enjoyable way to spend time.
This is true for any sport, be it soccer, basketball or the NFL. What is also true for all sports is how shock results can occur at times to upset the odds.
Now that many of the major professional sports are underway again, this has been shown to be as true as ever. If you are looking to catch up with some of the most recent big upsets across the sporting landscape, then the below should help.
Norwich City beat Manchester City in EPL
Soccer is a massive sport to follow all across Africa, and fans from the whole continent love to catch up on the most recent action.
Surely one of the biggest upsets from the latest round of games has to be defending champions Manchester City losing a five-goal thriller away to new boys Norwich City. It ended up 3-2 to the Canaries and left City boss Pep Guardiola feeling as sick as a parrot.
Let’s be honest – even playing away, everyone thought that Manchester City would walk this one. While Norwich had shown a good attacking style since being back in the EPL, they had not looked overly solid.
This was an even bigger shock when you see that Norwich had a long list of players out injured who they could not call upon. Luckily, a shambolic performance at the back from the visitors helped them to the win!
Serena Williams loses out on US Open title
Another recent major upset in world sport was found in the tennis US Open. The final involved hot favorite Serena Williams and unfancied challenger Bianca Andreescu. Williams was heavily favored going into this one against her teenage opponent and was expected to clinch a staggering 24th Grand Slam title.
However, things did not go as planned for the tennis legend! Andreescu had Williams on the ropes from the word go and won it 6-3, 7-5 in the end. The verve and energy that the teenage star brought to the court was too much for Williams, who could not handle it.
This victory not only stunned tennis but also made Andreescu, at 19, the first teen since Maria Sharapova to win a Grand Slam and also Canada’s first ever singles champion. Williams looked on edge throughout the whole match and many feel that the pressure of playing in front of a home crowd got to her.
USA get beaten in basketball World Cup
Basketball is another huge sport across Africa for people to follow, and the USA is where the game calls home. This has seen it dominate on the world stage for pretty much the entire history of the sport! This has certainly been true when it comes to Europe and the USA playing other European countries on the global stage.
This made the USA losing to France 89-79 in the men’s basketball World Cup recently all the more surprising. Going into the game, the USA team had not lost for 58 back-to-back matches and so many expected them to deal with France easily.
When you also factor in that this was a French team that was not expected to go far in the competition, you have a recipe for a real upset. Although the US did mount something of a comeback towards the end, France surged ahead finally to win.
Tennessee Titans fall to Indianapolis Colts in NFL week two
After week one in the NFL, Tennessee Titans fans were on a high. This was due to their mauling of the Cleveland Browns and the epic performance that their team put in.
Heading into the second round of games, they were due to face a winless Indianapolis Colts team who were not fancied to compete. However, a shock result saw the Colts edge it 19-17.
For Titans fans, the offense looked much flatter and less effective than the previous weekend. This saw them make less inroads into the Colts defense and spend more time working on their own.
The Colts on the other hand looked much better, which helped them pull off this unexpected win. Jacoby Brissett in particular played well for them at QB, and his passing for three touchdowns was key.
Sport never fails to surprise us
What the above shows is just how much of a capacity sport has to surprise and amaze us. While we may think that we know what will happen in an uneven contest, it does not always pan out like that.
Usually, the big favorite will win, but every now and then, the little guy comes along to upset the apple cart.
