Greatest sporting upsets of 2014: We look at the biggest odds-defying feats of the year

It's been another year of great drama in the sporting world, from top tennis names being upset to stunning comebacks in the Premier League.

While those who have seen their sides let leads slip and suffer hefty humiliations on the biggest of stages might try to forget them, there have been plenty of remarkable moments to savour.

We chart the top five odds-defying feats of 2014...

5 - Australia’s Ashes whitewash

English cricket started the year with the ultimate embarrassment, as a 5-0 Ashes defeat was completed within three days in Sydney. Mitchell Johnson’s ferocious pace terrorised the tourists throughout the series, claiming 37 wickets in total. Alastair Cook’s men returned with a collective sense of failure, with not a single member of the battling line-up racking up more than 300 runs. It was Australia’s third Ashes whitewash and surely the most humiliating, as the hosts produced the perfect backlash following three successive England triumphs. The hosts started the series as slight favourites amid fears of a gradual decline of their great rivals, but odds of 40/1 for a 5-0 victory suggests few expected such a one-sided encounter.

4 - Palace’s great escapes

Tony Pulis made a mockery of the betting throughout his spell at Selhurst Park; saving Crystal Palace from the abyss, overseeing one of the Premier League’s greatest comebacks and even upsetting the season-ending manager awards. With just three points from their first eight games, the Eagles were as short as 1/20 for relegation with Sky Bet when Ian Holloway departed following a seventh successive defeat. They went on to record an 11th-place finish under Pulis and defied odds of 150/1 to salvage a 3-3 draw from 3-0 down to Liverpool, leaving their visitors’ title charge in tatters and Luis Suarez in tears. Pulis went on to see off LMA Manager of the Year Brendan Rodgers and title winner Manuel Pellegrini to be named Barclays Premier League Manager of the Year.

3 - Another major upset

It was a year when the ‘big four’ finally loosened their grip on the ATP Tour, with two maiden Grand Slam winners crowned. Stanislas Wawrinka initially sent shockwaves through the men’s game by defying odds of 33/1 to win the Australian Open, before Marin Cilic caused an even bigger upset at the US Open. Not only was he twice the price, but you would have to have requested the odds on him facing Kei Nishikori in the final, such has been the dominance of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andy Murray. Far from the titanic battles we’ve become accustomed to seeing between tennis’ top names, Cilic routed his fellow major final debutant 6-3 6-3 6-3. Under the guidance of new coach Goran Ivanisevic, who famously upset the odds with his Wimbledon 2001 success, Cilic had already ousted Tomas Berdych and Federer in straight sets, less than 12 months on from serving a doping ban.

2 - Wilson defies the odds at the Dunhill Links

Oliver Wilson required an invite to even play at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship, having slipped down to 792 in the world without a European Tour title to his name. Nine second-place finishes must have left him wondering whether he was destined to remain a perennial nearly man but, when playing partner Tommy Fleetwood missed the chance to send the tournament to a play-off with a 10-foot putt, the 34-year-old’s emotions poured out as he collected the trophy and £500,000 cheque. Offered at odds of 500/1 with Sky Bet and with Rory McIlroy also breathing down his neck, Wilson recorded one of golf’s biggest upsets in recent years at St Andrews.

1- Brazil’s ultimate humiliation

With home advantage and the richest of histories, Brazil headed into the World Cup as favourites. However, Luis Felipe Scolari’s men looked a shadow of the great Selecao sides, with Neymar almost single-handedly dragging them through to the final four. With the Barcelona star cruelly injured late on against Colombia in the quarter-finals, his country were left all at sea against Germany. Such was the unthinkable nature of Brazil’s capitulation, Sky Bet hadn't even priced up a 7-1 defeat in their correct score market. It was the harshest of humiliations and a result which will go down as one of the most remarkable sporting outcomes of all time.