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What are the world's best sporting rivalries?
There isn't anything like a good sporting rivalry to get your blood boiling.
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2010/images/01/28/football.blog.jpg caption ="Manchester United celebrate their win over rival Manchester City."]
It doesn't matter what sport you support, what part of the world you live in or what economic class you belong to – sporting rivalries cross all borders.
Here's our list of some of the most notable sporting rivalries.
Football – Manchester United v Manchester City
Cricket – India v Pakistan and England v Australia
Tennis – Federer v Nadal
Baseball – New York Yankees v Boston Red Sox
Basketball – Los Angeles Lakers v Boston Celtics
Ice Hockey – Russia v U.S. v Canada
Athletics – Haile Gabreslaisse v Kenenisa Bekele
We'd like to know what you think.
What are some of your favorite sporting rivalries? Why do you think sporting rivalries exist? How much do things like geographic location, economic class and history play into who you support?
Please leave your comments below.
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BARCELONA VS REAL MADRID
USA VS ENGLAND
NIGERIA VS GHANA
ALGERIA VS EGYPT
For those old enough to remember: Yankees v. Dodgers (Brooklyn)
Yankees vs. Red Sox
Ohio State vs. Michigan Football
Celtics vs. Lakers
Duke vs. UNC Basketball
eeer... Rangers V Celtic has to be the biggest in Football, followed by Inter Milan v A.C Milan then I'd day Man United v LIverpool is a far greater rivalry than that of United v City.
City aren't even Manchester United's biggest derby rival, never mind the most notable rivalry in football!
My "Super Eagles" keeps surprising me day by day though they eight to survive. Keep flying hard my fellow Nigerian citizens.
There's nothing like Yankees Red Sox. It can be considered a religious experience and everryone should experience this!! GO YANKEES! 🙂
Connors v McEnroe
Ohio State v Michigan
Ali v Frazier
Steelers v Ravens
Larry Bird v Magic Johnson
Nicklaus v Palmer
Navratilova vs Evert
Gretzky v Lemieux
UNC vs. Duke in college basketball.
Although it's not as big as MIchigan-Ohio State, I don't think anyone's mentioned Texas vs. Oklahoma in college football...or Florida vs. Florida State vs. Miami.
Any chess players out there? How about Fischer vs. Spassky way back when? Yeah, it's not exactly a sport, but ESPN televises poker, so...
Speaking of non-mainstream, any Ultimate Frisbee guys out there? Seattle Sockeye and Buzz Bullets of Japan developed a nice rivalry in the past few years.
Soccer – Barcelona Vs. Madrid
Baseball – Yankees Vs. Red Sox
Football – Packers Vs. Bears
Individual – Ali Vs. Frazier (possibly the most intense ever)
Basketball – Lakers Vs. Celtics
College – UNC Vs. Duke
If I'm not going to double dip in any sports I'd say those are the biggest of the 20th century.
I'm sorry, but college, basketball and baseball are played almostly exclusively in the US. Can't really say they are the biggest sports. Cricket has a greater rivalry, between India & Pakistan. And before you say it isn't big, around 1 BILLION people tune in to watch those matches.
Baseball: Red Sox vs Yankees
Basketball: Celtics vs Lakers
Football: Dolphins vs Jets / Broncos vs Chargers
NCAA Football: Miami Hurricanes vs Florida State Seminoles / Ohio State vs Michigan Wolverines
NCAA: Duke vs UCONN
Soccer: Corinthians vs. Palmeiras. Their rivalry dates back to the founding of both clubs when former Corinthians founders went and founded their own club (Palestra Italia, now Palmeiras).
AC Milan v Inter Milan
Barcelona v Real Madrid
Club Soccer: Real Madrid v Barcelona
Int'l Soccer: England v Germany
NFL: Patriots v Colts
NCAA Fball: Ohio St. v Michigan
NBA: Lakers v Celtics
NCAA Bball: Duke v UNC
NHL: Sharks v Ducks
Int'l Hockey: USA v Canada
Baseball: Yankees v Red Sox
Cricket: India v Pakistan
Football: Arsenal, Spurs!
Baseball: Red Sox/ Yankees
Tennis: Nadal/ Federer
UNC vs. Duke absolutely deserves a spot on here.
Basebal- only US, Venezuela, cuba and japan like it, so it's not a world sport. thus, yankees/red sox is nothing
Football: no one but americans watch that game, so it's not a big sport.
College football and basketball are only american sports, no one else watches that around the world, so any rivalry is small compared to others around the world.
Soccer: Biggest rivalry in sports: Brazil vs argentina. That's way bigger than any manchester or inter milan rivalry. It's 200 million people from one country against 100 million of the other one. These countries don't even like each other bc of soccer. Second biggest rivalry in soccer: Brazil vs Italy. there are 9 world cup titles (the world cup is the real deal, bc has countries from all over. It's ridiculous how americans call NBA champions "world champions"), and 2 finals against each other.
3: corinthians vs palmeiras, flamengo vs fluminence, inter vs gremio
european footbal is lame. the only way that they can have quality games is buying south americans and african players, bc they can't play at all. Their championships are all hyped and some teams don't even have 3 national players. The La Liga from spain is the lamest championship of them all. There are only 2 teams: real and barcelona. how can anyone call that league the best one in the world? the answer is: money. Football in europe is all about money and glamour, but most of the worshiped players are over hyped bc of media campaigns. Send Christiano ronaldo, henry, beckham, and other players to play in the brazilian or argentine league and they will not shine as they shine in europe
IN SOCCER, RAYADOS DE MONTERREY VS TIGRES UANL
Rugby: All Blacks vs Springboks
Tennis: Sampras vs Agassi
AL Baseball: Yankees v. Red Sox
NL Baseball: Phillies v. Mets
NHL Hockey: Capitals v. Penguins/ Rangers v. Islanders
American Football: Redskins v. Cowboys
International Hockey: USA v. Canada v. Russia
Swimming: USA v. Australia
Soccer:
1- Brazil vs. Argentina (as a Brazilian, the best thing in the world is winning a game versus Argentina)
2- England vs. Argentina
3- Real Madrid vs Barcelona
4- Celtics vs. Rangers
5- Panatinaykos vs Olimpiakus
6- Germany vs England
7- Flamengo vs Vasco (in Brazil)
8- River Plate vs Boca Juniors
9- Roma vs Lazio
10- Egypt vs Algeria.
McLaren – Ferrari (F1)
Federer – Nadal (Tennis)
Yankees – Red Sox (Baseball)
India – Pakistan (Cricket)
Australia – England (Cricket) – Ashes
India – Pakistan (Hockey)
Manchester United – Liverpool (Football – EPL)
Egypt – Algeria (Football – International)
England – Argentina (Football – International)
Real Madrid – Barcelona (Football – La Liga)
Celtic – Rangers (Football – SPL) – Old Firm
Inter – AC Milan (Football – Serie A)
Rugby:
South Africa (Spring Boks) vs New Zealand (All Blacks) vs Australia (Wallabies)
Football – Boca juniors vs River Plate (argentina), Maccabi Tel-Aviv vs. Hapoel Tel-Aviv(israel)
Tennis – Federer v Nadal
Athletics – lui xiang vs robles
rugby- new zealand vs australia, england vs france, samoa vs fiji
Cricket: India vs Pakistan. This is the one rivalry where no matter how much lower either of teams are rated, we usually end up with a close one.
American Football: Giants v Cowboys
Baseball Yankees v Red Sox
Soccer/Rugby England v Scotland
Soccer/Rugby: England V Ireland
Rugby: Munster v Leinster
Ice Hockey: Devils v Rangers
Japanese baseball: Tokyo GIants vs Osaka (Hanshin) Tigers
Football
England vs Germany
Brazil Vs Argentina
Man Utd vs Liverpool
All these pale in comparison to India Vs Pakistan at Cricket however.
soccer:chelsea v barcelona,a.c.milan v inter milan,barcelona v real madrid
basketball:lakers v celtics
tennis:federer v nadal
snooker:hendry v o'sullivan
soccer:
Ac. Milan Juventus
Roma Lazio
Jventus Inter
Italia France
Liverpool Man Utd.
NHL – Canadiens vs Bruins
Letterman vs Leno
In Soccer, there is no greater rivarly than River Plate – Boca Juniors.
Period.
End of story.
Without a doubt, the greatest football rivalry (as well as the oldest), is the Auld Firm derby between Celtic and Rangers. The Milan derby and the Barca v Madrid match are close seconds. To suggest that ManUtd and Man City gets any sort of mention as a great rivalry is silly.
Hockey in the 1970s and 1980s– Westville v Stellarton
FEDERER V NADAL hands down. the best rivalry in sports. The difference in this one is that both of them dont hate each other, quite the opposite. They probably have the greatest respect for each others game, and you dont find that anywhere else, which is why they have the most special rivalry.
I'LL SAY MAN UNITED VS Man City.
ginebra vs. purefoods
Chicago Cubs vs. St. Louis Cardinals – baseball
Football: FC Barcelona vs Real Madrid
Baseball: Yankees vs Red Sox
Basketball: Lakers vs Celtics
NCAA Football: Michigan vs Ohio state
Ice Hockey
Ranger vs, Devils
Soccer : Brazil vs. Argentina
Tenis: Borg vs. McEnroe
Chess: Kasparov vs. Karpov
Soccer:
Fenerbache v. Galatasary. It gets so brutal that fans have gone to the hospital and died.
Chelsea v. Manchester United (Similar to Yankees v. Red Sox in the US)
Real Madrid v. Barcelona
Rangers v. Celtic
USA v. Mexico
Liverpool v. Manchester United
Bayern Munich v. VfB Stuttgart
Atl. Madrid v. Real Madrid
France v. Italy (Especially after the whole Zidane headbutt thing)
Tottenham Hotspur v. Arsenal
Man City v. Man United...especially after the Tevez transfer
Inter v. AC Milan
Inter v. Juventus
(After this year) France v. Ireland
I would even go as far as to possibly say Australia v. Japan.
Ice Hockey: Toronto Maple Leafs vs. Montreal Canadiens
England Vs Scotland for soccer
In Soccer:
Spain – Barcelona vs Real Madrid (Popular Catlaluña vs the King's club)
France – Marseille vs Paris St Germains (the popular rural south vs the State capital)
England – the London derbys in general and Arsenal vs Totenham (the northern working class vs the well off suburb)
Scotland – Celtics vs Rangers (the Glasgow rivalry)
Brazil – Palmeiras vs Sao Paulo (One of Sao Paulo's derby) and Flamingo vs Fluminense (THE Rio derby "Fla-Flu in Maracana)
Argentina – Boca Juniors vs River Plate (the poor suburb of Maradona vs the well off part of Buenos Aires)
England vs France (in rugby as well, the enemy you like to love. Centuries of History are involved in that perennial Channel rivalry)
France vs Germany (Same, History and World cup History gone bad)
England vs Argentina (in all kinds of sports, tension due to the Falkland/Malvinas war between the country in the 80's)
Brazil vs Argentina (the colored country against the Europeanized colony. The ever lasting problem question being who is the true Soccer king ? Maradona or Pelé)
Olympics:
USSR vs USA which has shifted to China vs USA (all part of the cold war era and now the economic war. The battlefield was moved to the stadiums where the athletes became the State gladiators and soldiers)
Barcelona vs R.Madrid
Liverpool vs Man United
AC Milan vs Inter Milan
Federer vs Nadal
Lin Dan vs Chong wei
Barcelona – Real Madrid
the Saints of course. Saints ! Saints ! WHO DAT !
RUGBY: South Africa (Springboks) present World Champions (viva!!)
vs
New Zealand (All Blacks)
selangor vs melaka in football
Football: Arsenal v Tottenham Hotspur
Basketball: Cleveland Cavaliers v LA Lakers
Boxing: Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao
Tennis: Andy Roddick v Andy Murray
FIFA World Cup: Spain v Brazil
Soccer- Barcelona Vs Realmadrid
This is the greatest sports rivalry EVER.....
knicks vs pacers/heat. LJ four point play! Allan Houston floater vs MIA, REGGIE!!choke
Recently moved to Manchester (from Canada) and overwhelmed with the Man City vs Man United rivalry. It consumes virtually everyone, TV, radio, the web and print. I'd love to know what makes a Mancunian support one over the other but far greater minds than mine have tried and failed to define the criteria.
With respect to last Wednesday's Carling Cup match, it seems City was too confident of their win, forgetting they had one more game to play and that against a very strong and organized Unitede squad. One has to assume City coaching and management failed to keep their team focused, playing the game on the field instead of the press. Thinking of celebrations over cross-town rivals instead of football.
Bye the way; Go United.
Lance Armstrong v. Jan Ullrich
Football: USA v Mexico
Soccer
Inter – Juventus
In tennis, Bjorn Borg x John McEnroe still give me the shivers!
Football only but here are my thoughts;
AC Milan vs Inter Milan
Real Madrid vs Barcelona
Leeds Utd vs Manchester Utd
Celtic vs Rangers
Liverpool vs Manchester Utd
Arsenal vs Spurs
what about the big johannesburg derby: kaiser Chief vs orlando pirates. that's hardcore.
Soccer
Barcelona Vs. Madrid
River vs Boca
Fenerbahce vs Galatasaray
Rangers vs Celtic
Soccer – Brazil v/s Argentina
Swimming – Phelps v/s thorpe
Running – Asafa Powell v/s Bolt
Hockey – Australia v/s Germany
rugby – Australia V/S Newzealand
Wrestling 🙂 – Bret Hart V/s undertaker
Vishy Anand v/s Karpov
How are you
Overall : Ryder Cup, US – EU, Golf. Nothing compares imo.
Football: Real vs Barca, Brazil vs world
Am.Foot: Pats vs Colts, who gets the fartherest this year(every year)
F1: Ferrari vs other-top-team-of-the-year(varies)
Golf: Tiger vs World. On that note, he should be a clear favourite for "the Players Championship" this year 😀 😀
Tennis: BelgiumDuo vs Williams
Snooker: Rocket vs Selby
Rivalries in soccer? Try to imagine this one: The Catalan people, who strove for independence, lost against Franco and his fascist followers in the Spanish Civil War. After the war in an effort to subdue all opposition, the dictator forbade the Catalan people all forms of cultural expression, including traditional rituals, holidays, and even speaking their own language! (Franco made the Chinese Government look like liberal weenies) But there was a way to went the anger: Win against Real Madrid, the quintessential symbol of royal (read “Real”) fascism. In other words, the FC Barcelona was the vehicle for the Catalans to legally express their hatred against the fascist regime and the “Super Classico” the semi-annual opportunity to kick their buds in a peaceful way. Unlike the Basques, who actually use terrorism as a means to separate from Spain, the Catalans just like to beat them on the field. The FC Barcelona is more than a Club, its almost more than a national team, it's a cultural heritage and 3 million Catalans (all of them) watch the games against Madrid every season hoping that their team brings shame onto the royal team.
Pele vs maradona
arsenal vs spurs
nigeria vs ghana
england vs argentina
brazil vs argentina
ac milan vs inter milan
kasparov vs karpov
roma vs lazio
lakers vs celtics
celtic vs rangers
schumacher vs hakkinen
venus vs serena
AC MILAN vs liverpoo
messi vs ronaldo
barcelona vs real madrid
brazil vs argentina
india vs pakistan
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