Last week Friday, Chelsea was on the verge of victory against Bayern Munich in the 2013 UEFA Super Cup but with just eight seconds left, Bayern Munich equalised and were the eventual winner after a penalty shootout. The UEFA Super Cup is an annual football match organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by the reigning champions of the two main European club competitions, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.
Brazil were the favourites to win gold in the 1996 Atlanta Olympics men’s football. The team met Nigeria in one of the semi-final matches of the competition. Brazil had beaten Nigeria 1-0 in the group stage. For the greater part of the match, Brazil were leading. At a point, Brazil were three goals up against Nigeria’s one. But with 12 minutes left, Nigeria scored two goals to send the game into extra time. Nigeria won the match with a golden goal in extra time. In the final match of the competition, Nigeria again came from behind to beat their opponents, Argentina.
In 1999, during the European Champions League Final, Bayern Munich had led Manchester United by 1-0 into the stoppage time but two goals from Manchester United in the stoppage time gave victory to the Manchester club. It was a dramatic comeback.
During the 2005 Champions League Final between AC Milan and Liverpool played in the Ataturk Stadium in Istanbul AC Milan were three goals up by half-time, prompting some Reds fans to leave. But in six crazy second-half minutes, Liverpool equalised and went on to eventually win the match in a penalty shoot-out.
The opening game of the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations saw Angola leading Mali 4-0 till the last four minutes of the game but somehow the Malian players conjured up 4 goals in 11 minutes to end the game in a draw.
What do these stories teach me? That I should never give up early and if I have any reason to give up at all, I should ask myself these questions: Continue reading “Amazing Comeback Stories from the Brink of Failure, By Darasimi Oshodi”
