5 historical triumphs that were as unexpected as Leicester's EPL win

After transforming themselves from relegation favourites to champions over the course of a season, it's definitely fair to say that Leicester City's English Premier League triumph will go down as one of history's most unexpected wins.

In an era where money shouts the loudest in football, the fact that Claudio Ranieri's unfancied Foxes were assembled at a cost just shy of £55 million (S$108m) - in comparison, Manchester City forked out £55m for just one player in Kevin de Bruyne last August - makes their feat even more astounding.

In honour of Leicester's incredible fairy tale, here are several other of history's most unexpected winners:

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1) JAPAN BEAT SOUTH AFRICA AT THE RUGBY WORLD CUP

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PHOTO: ACTION IMAGES / EDDIE KEOGH

While the Land of the Rising Sun is home to a strong sports culture, rugby definitely can't be classed as a traditional Japanese sport.

So when Japan took on two-time Rugby World Cup winners South Africa in Pool B of last year's tournament in England, no one gave the East Asians a fighting chance.

How wrong they were.

Trailing by three points with just seconds left on the clock, the Brave Blossoms lived up to their name as New Zealand-born Karne Hesketh scored a last-ditch try to stun the Springboks - as well as the rugby fraternity - with a 34-32 victory.

Unfortunately for Japan, they became the first team in Rugby World Cup history to win three pool matches and not advance to the next stage after a heavy defeat to Scotland.

 

 

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2) MARISA TOMEI WINS BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

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Marisa Tomei might be the name on everyone's lips as Peter Parker's hot Aunt May following her appearance in Captain America: Civil War, but the 51-year-old actress was a veritable unknown in 1992.

Surprisingly nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in the sleeper hit My Cousin Vinny, Tomei had the odds stacked against her with the likes of Judy Davis, Vanessa Redgrave, Miranda Richardson and Joan Plowright as her competition.

So when her name was read out by Jack Palance, many thought the announcer read the wrong name.

 

 

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3) SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE TAKES BEST PICTURE

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PHOTO: UNIVERSAL PICTURES

Sticking with the Academy Awards, comedies such as Shakespeare in Love don't usually come out tops when it comes to the Best Picture category.

Especially if the competition includes a Steven Spielberg epic like Saving Private Ryan, as was the case in 1998.

Shakespeare in Love's chances looked even slimmer when Spielberg scooped up Best Director for the World War II film.

But in the end, love prevailed over war as Shakespeare in Love claimed the Best Picture gong - a surprise win attributed to successful Oscar campaigning on the part of the film's distributor Miramax and producer Harvey Weinstein.

 

 

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4) HARRY TRUMAN WINS RE-ELECTION AS US PRESIDENT

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You know the odds are against you when a newspaper is so confident that you won't win that it went to print a story about your defeat before the results were even confirmed.

But while Harry Truman had the last laugh when he was re-elected as President of the United States in 1948, things were definitely rocky for the man who had taken the reins following the death of Franklin Roosevelt in 1945.

The Republicans had control of Congress in 1946 and Truman was so widely expected to lose to Thomas Dewey that the Chicago Tribune ran the headline "Dewey defeats Truman" on its front page the day after results were tabulated.

Imagine their surprise and embarrassment when Truman emerged the winner, taking 49.5 per cent of the vote over Dewey's 45.1 per cent.

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5) US TROOPS SURVIVE THE SIEGE OF BASTOGNE

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When German forces launched a massive assault through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium during the Christmas week of 1944, the Allies were completely taken by surprise.

US paratroopers in the Belgian town of Bastogne were forced into action under the most daunting of circumstances - they lacked sufficient ammunition and winter supplies with their enemy's superior firepower encircling their position.

This led to one of the war's most famous retorts when US General Anthony McAuliffe was offered a chance to surrender by his German counterpart. His answer? "Nuts!"

Despite taking heavy casualties, the US troops held their own against the German onslaught for a whole week before they were relieved by General George Patton's Third Army, earning themselves the moniker "The Battered B******s of Bastogne".

Sources: The Telegraph, Biography.com, HISTORY.com