WITH DONEGAL HAVING not won an All-Ireland SFC since 1992, and Mayo failing to triumph in the competition since 1951, at least one of the sides are set to end a long wait for glory on Sunday.
With that in mind, here are seven other instances of teams who eventually broke their losing streaks.
Brazil 1994 World Cup win
The pressure was on Brazil, having failed to win the World Cup since their fabled team of 1970 achieved the feat. However, in 1994, they eventually delivered, despite failing to emulate Jack Charlton’s Ireland by beating Italy inside 90 minutes.
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Ireland’s 2009 Grand Slam win
A tense 17-15 win over Wales in 2009 was enough to ensure Ireland’s first Grand Slam win in 61 years. They had won their only other Grand Slam in 1948, when a Jack Kyle-inspired side beat Wales at Ravenhill to triumph, back when the competition only included five nations.
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Dublin’s 2011 All-Ireland win
Dublin often flattered to deceive ever since winning the All-Ireland Championship in 1995, but their moment of glory finally arrived last year, as Stephen Cluxton’s climactic free sealed a narrow win over Kerry in memorable fashion.
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The Red Sox’s 2004 World Series win
Against all the odds, the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004. They beat the St Louis Cardinals by four games to none in a best-of-seven series, claiming the title for the first time in 86 years – a wait that makes most others on this list seem positively brief by comparison.
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New Zealand 2011 World Cup
Perhaps more so than any other team on this list, there was a huge amount of pressure on New Zealand to break their losing streak in 2011 when they hosted the competition. Ever since winning the first-ever World Cup in 1987 – when they also served as hosts – they had gained a reputation as chokers, failing to emulate their earlier success while seemingly possessing the talent to do so. This time around, they beat France, despite a palpably nervous performance, to end their long wait for glory, much to the relief of the country’s avid rugby fans.
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Man United win the league in 1993
It may seem hard to believe given their series of increasingly impressive accomplishments since, but in 1993, United won the league for the first time since 1967, fighting off the challenge of Aston Villa, and thus beginning a period that would develop into years of dominance for Alex Ferguson’s men.
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Cork’s 2010 All-Ireland win
In a tense, hard-fought game, Cork beat Down 0-16 to 0-15 to win the All-Ireland for the first time since 1990, when they beat this year’s finalists Meath by 0-11 to 0-09. The victory came as somewhat of a surprise, as they had been knocked out at only the semi-final stage by Kerry in the Munster Championship of that year.
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