Sheffield Wednesday’s miraculous comeback in the Sky Bet League One play-off semi-final against Peterborough, where they overturned a 4-0 first-leg deficit, was a reminder that anything can happen in sport.
Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the best comebacks in sport.
Botham’s Ashes
England’s plight against Australia in the second Ashes Test in 1981 was so bad they had checked out of their hotel early ahead of an anticipated defeat. Enter Ian Botham. With his side 41 for four when following on, Botham played one of the great Test innings, smashing 149 to make Australia bat again and set an albeit modest target of 130. Enter Bob Willis. The fast bowler produced the spell of his lifetime, decimating the Australian batting order in taking eight wickets for 43 runs to seal a famous 18-run victory. Instead of being 2-0 down in the series, England went on to win 3-1.
Miracle of Medinah
It seemed impossible that the Ryder Cup would be returning home with Europe going into the final day of the bi-annual tournament in 2012. The United States had dominated the opening two days on their home soil of Medinah in Chicago, opening up a 10-4 lead in the race to 14.5 ahead of Sunday’s singles. But Spanish captain Jose Maria Olazabal channelled the spirit of his mentor Seve Ballesteros and Europe produced a sea of blue on the leaderboard, with Martin Kaymer sealing the most unlikely of victories when he rolled home a 10-foot putt to claim a 14.5-13.5 victory.
Fury’s unlikely resurrection
When Tyson Fury was on the end of a vicious left hook from Deontay Wilder in the 12th round of their WBC heavyweight clash in Las Vegas it looked like goodnight for the British fighter. Laying prone on the canvas he appeared out cold until midway through the referee’s count, when he came back to life, shot up and was somehow able to carry on. Fury thought he had earlier done enough to be awarded a points victory, but the judges controversially scored it a draw. However Fury dominated the two subsequent rematches and still retains the WBC belt.
Miracle of Instanbul
https://twitter.com/ChampionsLeague/status/113220969099215667
Liverpool’s first European Cup final in 21 years and first in the Champions League era looked like it was going to be a damp squib as AC Milan raced into a 3-0 half-time lead thanks to goals from Paolo Maldini and Hernan Crespo (2). But Steven Gerrard inspired the monumental second-half comeback, with Liverpool scoring three times in seven minutes as Vladimir Smicer and Xavi Alonso also bagged. Goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek was the hero in the penalty shoot-out, saving from Andrea Pirlo and Andrei Shevchenko to claim a miraculous victory for Rafael Benitez’s side.
Brady’s Brunch
Even Tom Brady must have questioned whether his New England Patriots side had any chance of winning the 2017 Superbowl when they trailed the Atlanta Falcons 28-3 in the third quarter. But the NFL great cemented his position as the best quarterback of all time by inspiring his side to a miraculous 34-28 victory in overtime. It was the first Supervowl to be decided in an additional period and was also the largest comeback in the showpiece match.
Brecel back from the brink
Luca Brecel beat Ronnie O’Sullivan in this year’s World Snooker Championship quarter-final but the Belgian’s run looked like coming to an end in the semis against Si Jiahui when the Chinese debutant powered into a 14-5 lead in the race to 17. What happened next was the greatest comeback in Crucible history as Brecel won 11 successive frames, eventually claiming a remarkable 17-15 victory. He ensured that his fortnight in Sheffield ended in glory, beating Mark Selby in the final to win a first world title.
KC, JC through to Manning Cup semis as champs Mona booted
A new ISSA/Digicel Manning Cup champion will be crowned after Kingston College (KC) registered a decisive 2-0 victory over reigning titleholders Mona High in their Group A quarterfinal showdown at Stadium East on Friday.
Kvist Paul (8th) and Demario Dailey (70th) did the damage for Kingston College in a win that not only ended Mona's campaign but also propelled the North Street-based team into the semifinals alongside Jamaica College (JC), who trounced Tivoli High 4-0 in a simultaneous fixture at the Ashenheim Stadium.
By virtue of the results, Jamaica College topped the group on seven points, one point ahead of Kingston College (six points), while Tivoli High (three points) and Mona High (one point) will now turn their focus to the Walker Cup knockout competition for redemption.
Kingston College’s Head coach, Vassell Reynolds, lauded his team's composure and execution.
"It was a fantastic performance. We knew Mona would come out strong, but the boys stuck to the game plan and delivered when it mattered. Now, we look ahead to the semifinals, but as always, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves. The aim is to keep the boys grounded and focused, and we will see what happens when that time comes,” Reynolds said.
With a lot at stake for Mona in particular heading into the contest, it was expected to be a close affair, but the manner in which Kingston College started ensured otherwise.
In fact, Mona had very little say in the contest as Kingston College’s show of intent resulted in an early strike inside 10 minutes. Damaine Smith delivered a perfectly placed corner kick, which Paul rose to meet and headed past Mona's goalkeeper, Riquelme Edwards.
Mona High, desperate to respond, almost found themselves further behind in the 15th minute when Dailey fired wide from a promising position.
As Mona struggled to contain Kingston College’s tactical discipline and attacking enterprise, Deshawn Byfield almost added his name to the scoresheet but had his effort dramatically cleared off the line by Dante Peralto.
Despite KC’s dominance, Mona’s goalkeeper Edwards produced a string of superb saves to keep his team in contention.
Just before halftime, he acrobatically parried a powerful shot from Kajay Fletcher, diving full stretch to his right, and Byfield failed to capitalize on the rebound.
Seconds later, Edwards was called upon again to deny a stinging shot from Smith.
Matrim Martin then unleashed a venomous right-footer, but Edwards once more stood tall, ensuring the scoreline remained 1-0 at the break.
The purples continued to assert their authority on the resumption as Dailey threatened in the 68th with a firm shot from close range that went straight at Edwards.
However, the Kingston College striker, sporting the number nine jersey, made amends two minutes later. Sent on his way by a brisk through pass, Dailey powered a low drive past a flat-footed Edwards to double Kingston College’s lead and effectively end Mona’s hopes of a comeback.
Clarke hails solid Scotland as Croatia win boosts Nations League survival hopes
Steve Clarke credited Scotland's defensive resilience after they boosted their hopes of remaining in the top tier of the Nations League by beating Croatia 1-0 at Hampden Park.
John McGinn came off the bench to score the all-important goal as Scotland took advantage of Petar Sucic's sending-off to claim their first win of the 2024-25 Nations League campaign.
The result – coupled with Poland's crushing 5-1 defeat in Portugal – means Scotland will stave off automatic relegation to League B if they win in Warsaw on Monday.
While Clarke felt Scotland could have done more with the ball, he was impressed both with their off-the-ball work and with the impact of super sub McGinn.
"My first thoughts when I came off the pitch were that we could play better," Clarke said.
"We could be more clinical when we get to the final third of the pitch. The sending off changed the game, but we were due a little break.
"This is a group of players that want to be successful, want to do well for their country.
"That's another clean sheet, two in a row. If you don't concede goals, you always have a chance to win the game.
"It was nice to get John on the pitch and I thought his finish was really good because it wasn't easy. It was nice to be able to look at the bench behind and know we had people who could come on and affect the game. It's nice when we get everybody fit and available."
The victory was Scotland's first in a competitive match since September 2023, when they beat Cyprus 3-0 in Euro 2024 qualifying.
They had gone 10 games without a competitive victory since then, drawing four and losing six, including a return of just one point from three outings at Euro 2024.
Denmark 1-2 Spain: Oyarzabal and Perez on target as Roja secure top spot
Spain secured top spot in Group A4 of the Nations League with one match to spare after defeating Denmark 2-1 in Copenhagen.
Mikel Oyarzabal and Ayoze Perez were on the scoresheet as the unbeaten Roja made it four wins and a draw to pull six points clear of the second-placed Danes.
Luis de la Fuente's side capitalised on a poor pass from Denmark centre-back Jannik Vestergaard to open the scoring as Oyarzabal latched on to a ball from Perez and finished past Kasper Schmeichel in the 15th minute.
Villarreal forward Perez then doubled the visitors' lead in the 58th minute after Dani Olmo turned provider with a defence-splitting pass.
The hosts reduced the deficit with six minutes of regulation time left, as Fabian Ruiz's back pass to goalkeeper David Raya was intercepted by Gustav Isaksen, who had been denied by the woodwork moments earlier, and he slotted into an open goal to set up a tense ending.
But the Spaniards held on for the win and will now face Switzerland in their final group game on Monday, before taking part in the quarter-finals, scheduled for March.
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