The Greatest feat in Football history

By Soibi Versatile

Winning titles is the aim of every football club. While some may win more than the other several factors come into play to decide how much and how often teams win. Teams with better players have a bigger chance to do the impossible but how about the teams with no superstars and with a manager who has barely felt the euphoria of winning titles

Sir Alex Ferguson in 2017 during a football event talked about the Celtic team in 1967 who won the European cup as the side to achieve the greatest feat in football.


Celtic's 2-1 win over Internazionale 50 years ago established the team as "pioneers of doing the impossible," Ferguson insisted.

"They set the pattern for a period, particularly when Manchester United the next year did it," the Scot said.

"From '65 to '67, if someone had written a book about it they would call it fiction. It was amazing."


The former Manchester United manager said the European Cup win paved the way for other British sides to follow.

"They were [pioneers] for British football, there's no doubt about that," Ferguson said.

"Sir Matt [Busby] at Manchester United was rebuilding the team after the Munich air disaster, but they got to a semi-final, which was a great achievement for a very young side.

"For Celtic to do it with 11 players from within 25 miles of each other is astonishing. This [event] will recognise the achievement, but [also] applaud the players and management staff who achieved it. It will never be done again."


Sir Alex Ferguson may be right in his own eyes and no one would dispute that Jock Steins' Celtic who stormed the world in 1967 with a 2-1 win over Inter Milan did something spectacular and set the tone for underdog teams to aspire for the highest honors.

In several occasions we have seem small teams cause an upset for bigger teams in matches but doing it to the point of winning a major tournament is rarely seen.

In 2004 Greece did something spectacular after knocking out big teams like the French side who had the likes of Zinidine Zidane to go all the way to the final where they beat the hosts Portugal to win the European Championship.


Greece in Group shocked the footballing world, defeating the hosts, Portugal 2–1, in the opening game of the Euro 2004. Giorgos Karagounis put the Greeks ahead after only seven minutes and Angelos Basinas made it 2–0 from the penalty spot on 51 minutes. A stoppage-time goal by Cristiano Ronaldo proved no more than a consolation.

Greece then drew with Spain before losing to Russia in their last group stage game.

The final was a repeat of the opening game of the tournament and Portugal were hoping to avenge their defeat. Cristiano Ronaldo, Luis Figo and company attacked and dominated possession but once again, sturdy defending and goalkeeping from Greece kept the hosts off the scoreboard.

Just before the hour mark, Greece earned a corner kick from which Angelos Charisteas scored. And even the most frantic finale in front of passionate home support could not break the resistance in-built by Rehhagel. Greece were European Champions against all odds.

Fast forward to the year 2016. A year many have said was a year of underdogs as even in the political sphere something unusual happened in the USA elections as Donald Trump a man who had never held a political position defeated Hilary Clinton of the Democratic Party through the electoral collage. Trump a Republican who lost the popular votes stunned his adversary the secretary of State and former first lady to win the elections to the surprise and amazement of the world. Or was it the European Championship victory by Portugal? After not winning a single group stage game in the tournament hosted by France the Portuguese got to the final by experiencing just one win ( Wales) in normal time which set them up for a final with hosts France before stunning the hosts as Eder a Swansea City flop was brought on in extra time to ensure Portugal won their first ever International football trophy despite the fact that their talisman Cristiano Ronaldo was stretched off field in the first half after being injured by a tackle from Dimitri Payet.


However it was Leicester City who stunned the world the most as the y lifted the English Premier League against all odds in the 2015/2016.


How Leicester City Won the Premier league


Leicester won the league, which is a four-word statement that with no additional information already reads unlikely. Leicester won the league by 10 points, which sounds like a Football Manager achievement. Leicester finished 10 points ahead of Arsenal, 11 ahead of Tottenham, 15 up on Manchester City and Manchester United, 21 in front of eighth-place Liverpool and 31 points ahead of 2014-15 champions Chelsea, which begins to speak to the weekly marvel that took place.

Despite starting the previous season with a relegation fight Leicester City finished 9th. Niger Pearson left the role and the club replaced him with Italian Claudio Ranieri. Ranieri a former Chelsea and Juventus Manager had not been know for winning titles and no one ever thought that he would be the one to lead Leicester City to a destination they never dreamed of.

the imagination of millions around the world -- and like all good fairytales this one had a happy ending.

Unheralded English soccer team Leicester City, dismissed as non-starters to win the league this season -- indeed the club was tipped for relegation -- was crowned champion after nearest rival Tottenham failed to beat Chelsea.


Player Recruitment

Leicester's preferred starting XI cost just $32 million, which must make accountants of the Premier League's biggest clubs who have spent millions on star players green with envy.

The much-heralded signings of Riyad Mahrez, N'Golo Kante and Jamie Vardy, all of who made the PFA Team of the Year, for relatively small transfer fees have been key to the team's relentlessly consistent performances on the pitch.

Head of scouting Steve Walsh, also one of manager Claudio Ranieri's three assistants, deserves much of the praise for those signings.

So the story goes, Walsh went to France to watch Ryan Mendes -- now at Nottingham Forest in England's second tier -- and, instead, came back with Mahrez for the paltry fee of $520,000.

The Algerian could be reportedly worth around $51 million -- almost 100 times more than Leicester paid for his services.

Ranieri also took some convincing to sign talisman Kante, before persistent pressure from Walsh eventually persuaded the club to part with $8.2 million for the Frenchman.

In contrast, Louis van Gaal has spent $416 million in his two years as Manchester United manager with very little success.

While the likes of Vardy and Mahrez had no issues scoring, it was the defense that most concerned Ranieri as his team failed to keep a clean sheet until late October.

"Before every game, I said, 'Come on boys, come on. Clean sheet today.' No clean sheet," Ranieri said at the time.

"I tried every motivation. So finally, before the game against Crystal Palace, I said: 'Come on boys, come on. I offer you a pizza if you get a clean sheet.'


In Thailand, the home of Leicester's billionaire owner Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, regular blessings of the Leicester pitch, the spreading of good karma and an "unbeatable fabric" have all been touted as reasons behind the club's success.

Leicester City played more on the counter and the likes of Jamie Vardy, Ngolo Kante, Robert Huth and Okasaki were very instrumental in their title charge. Leicester City won 23 games drew 12 and lost just three.

While the bookmakers had given them a 5000-1 chance of winning the title. It proved to be a very faulty assessment as Leicester City stunned the world by winning the toughest league in Europe in what many may quite agree as the greatest feat in football's history.



Soibi Versatile is Daily Memoirs Chief Writer

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I don't understand source. Written by Soibi Versatile