Cardiff City vs Portsmouth - The FA Cup Final 2008

What a time to meet. Under the arch of Wembley, Cardiff City and Portsmouth will be introduced to one another on one of the biggest stages in English football later as they go head-to-head in what is their first ever FA Cup meeting. And it just happens to be the final.

This most unexpected of finals is in many respects a fitting tribute to what has been one of the most unpredictably romantic FA Cup campaigns in recent memory. From Chasetown to Havant and Waterlooville, from Oldham to Barnsley, the 127th FA Cup will be fondly remembered for its plethora of upsets and giantkillings, and it all culminates with a meeting of two sides who, between them, have not reached this stage of the competition since 1939.

For English football, the way this year’s campaign has panned out represents a fillip for all those who have recently lamented that football at the top level has become ‘boring’ and ‘predictable’ (I’m looking your way Mr. Keegan). It is with this that I will be very keen to see the viewing figures for today’s final, because conversely many of the very same people who bemoan the so-called status quo of modern domestic football and grievingly sigh at the bleak future of the game also happen not to be too interested in tuning in for this year’s showpiece event, citing the lack of big names as a dampener on the potential for entertainment. As they say, you’re damned if you do…

Cardiff City are looking to become the first team outside England’s top division to win the trophy since West Ham in 1980. Managed by Dave Jones, the Welsh outfit dispatched Chasetown, Hereford, Wolves, Middlesbrough and Barnsley to make it to the final – proof that making a cup final is not always as mind-crushingly daunting as some people may have you believe. Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink is the talisman the Bluebirds will look to for the big occasion. The former Chelsea striker has the ability to strike the ball with thunderous venom, and can often offer the sublime as demonstrated by his goal against Wolves in the fifth round, but the Dutchman is coming to the end of his career now and may struggle against a miserly Portsmouth rearguard. Nevertheless he will be desperate to collect an FA Cup winners medal having lost out to Arsenal in 2002 while playing for Chelsea. Joe Ledley and Peter Whittingham have both put in stellar performances in this year’s competition, weighing with goals at crucial times, and Cardiff fans will look to the pair for drive and creativity in midfield. Aaron Ramsey is also a player to watch, with rumours abound that Manchester United are interested in the youngster.

If Portsmouth fans were to pay attention to recent form, they would be heading to Wembley nervously dreading continuation of an awful run that has seen them without a win since April 8th when they defeated West Ham. Four straight defeats and no goal in over five and a half hours of football is hardly the most satisfactory preparation for a final, but this losing streak is perhaps in a way as much a product of their success in reaching Wembley as anything. With focus on the league vanishing the moment Kanu fired Pompey to the final, many feel that Harry Redknapp’s side have simply taken their foot off the gas and eased off in recent weeks, with players fearful that a late challenge here or a booking or two there could result in them missing what is, for many in this squad, the game of their lives.

Portsmouth’s route to the final has been based primarily on defensive stability, as is demonstrated by the fact that the South Coast outfit have conceded just one goal in the competition so far, to Plymouth in the fourth round. Ipswich Town, Preston North End, Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion all failed to breach Pompey’s powerful backline, and with the January signing of Lassana Diarra, Redknapp once again proved his shrewdness in the transfer market. Diarra has merely served to strengthen what is a remarkably physical side, and he was instrumental in helping Portsmouth edge past Manchester United at Old Trafford in the quarter finals. David James looks to also have proved his fitness, which is a massive boost for the club given his excellent season. Portsmouth’s one problem area is upfront however, with Benjani departed and Jermain Defoe cup-tied. The onus in the quest for goals thus falls on Milan Baros, goalless since his move from Lyon, and Kanu. The gangly Nigerian certainly has the experience and nous in dealing with high profile events having already won the Champions League, the UEFA Cup, the Premier League, the FA Cup and Olympic gold, and as the matchwinner in the semis he will hope to be similarly effective in the final.

On a day that both the Welsh and English national anthems will be aired in the stadium prior to kick-off, one certainty is that at the close of play an English manager will lift the FA Cup for the first time since Joe Royle in 1995. The question is will it be Harry Redknapp or Dave Jones?