Top 10 Thrashings in Sporting Finals
The much anticipated Confederations Cup final between Brazil and Spain turned out to be an entirely one-sided affair as the Brazilians romped to a 3-0 win leaving the hapless 10-man Spaniards looking pretty embarrassed. This is far from the first time that a showpiece has resulted in a battering though and there will be plenty who have competed in sporting finals that would rather forget them, FREEbets.org.uk have picked 10 of the best examples of this.
10. 1994 FA Cup Final: Manchester United 4-0 Chelsea
United may have been hot favourites going into the Wembley showpiece but they weren’t really expected to come away with such a margin of victory. Seen as it was 0-0 at half-time it is even more surprising but two penalties from Eric Cantona followed by strikes from Mark Hughes and Brian McClair saw the Red Devils romp to victory.
9. 2008 French Open Final: Rafael Nadal beats Roger Federer 6-1, 6-3, 6-0
There have been plenty of victories in Grand Slam finals in straight sets but few as convincing as this one when it has been between two of the greatest players of all time. It was the third consecutive year that the Spaniard and the Swiss contested the final but practice didn’t make perfect for Roger who was on the wrong end of a rare hammering for him.
8. 1989 World Snooker Championship Final: Steve Davis 18-3 John Parrott
The Crucible tournament settled down to a race to 18 frames in 1980 and Davis’ sixth world crown has been comfortably the biggest margin of victory since then. The young Parrott could do nothing against the Nugget and the only surprise is that after that thrashing Davis did not win another world title.
7. 1970 World Cup Final: Brazil 4-1 Italy
The Brazilian team of 1970 was one of the greatest of all time on the international stage and they were at their very best when they took to the field at the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City to despatch Italy and lift the World Cup. Goals from Pele, Gerson, Jairzinho and most famously Carlos Alberto with minutes to go gave them the famous win.
6. 2006 World Match Play: Paul Casey beats Shaun Micheel 10 & 8
The World Match Play dates all the way back to the ‘60s but never has the final been as one sided as 2006 when England’s Paul Casey got into the bar very early indeed after being 10 holes up with only eight left to play. Micheel had seen off Tiger Woods, Luke Donald and Robert Karlsson to reach the last two but seemed to peak too early as Casey strolled to the £1m win.
5. 1999 ICC World Cup Final: Australia beat Pakistan by 8 wickets
Steve Waugh may have been leading one of the greatest teams of all time in 1999 but the Pakistani team was not too bad itself sporting Wasim Akram, Saqlain Mushtaq and Inzamam-ul-Haq amongst others, which is what makes this result so impressive. The Aussies, thanks largely to Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne bowled Pakistan out for 132 and then knocked it off with ease in just over 20 overs with just two wickets down. Easy.
4. 1984 Wimbledon Final: John McEnroe beats Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-1, 6-2
McEnroe was defending champion and favourite against an ageing Connors but Jimmy was still the number three seed and expected to challenge after beating Ivan Lendl in the semi-finals. However, McEnroe was deadly serious as he dropped just four games and sprinted to a straight sets win.
3. 2000 BDO World Championship Final: Ted Hankey 6-0 Ronnie Baxter
There have been as many as nine whitewash victories in World Championship finals across both organisations in darts but few as convincing as when the Count downed the Rocket on the turn of the millennium. It took Ted just 46 minutes to capture his first world title and the 170 finish to win it made it look even more like an exhibition against the unfortunate Baxter.
2. 1993/94 Champions League Final: AC Milan 4-0 Barcelona
This was two really great teams going head to head for the biggest prize in European football and the Italian side left no room for debate in which team was the greatest that year with a thumping win. A brace from Daniele Massaro followed by goals from Dejan Savicevic and Marcel Desailly came with no reply from a team including Romario, Stoichkov and Guardiola.
1. 2008 Beijing Olympics 100m Final: Usain Bolt wins in 9.69
Fireworks were expected from the Lightning Bolt but never before had anyone seen anything like what he produced in the Chinese capital in the summer of ’08. He was so far ahead two thirds through the race that he was able to play to the crowd and pound his chest in celebration, all whilst setting a new world record of 9.69 seconds. It was an unbelievable feat that left his seven competitors as distant as you are ever likely to see in a 100 metres race.