The 127th FA CUP FINAL 2008 Portsmouth v Cardiff Preview
The Author
Hey, my name is Liam, and I first published 'The 127th FA CUP FINAL 2008 Portsmouth v Cardiff Preview' on 17th May, 2008, within the FA Cup section.
FA CUP FINAL
Venue: Wembley Stadium Date: Sat 17 May Kick-off:15:00 BST
Referee: Mike Dean (Chesire FA)
The 127th FA Cup Final 2008 between Portsmouth((8th, Barclays Premier League, 57 pts from 38 games) and Cardiff City(12th, Coca-Cola Football League Championship, 64 pts from 46 game) takes place at Wembley Stadium, NW London on Saturday 17th May 2008 at 15:00 BST, follow the action in the FA Cup final.
There can be little doubt that today’s FA Cup would have been predicted by precisely nobody at the start of the season, in January at the third round stage or even o quarter-finals day, yet the famous old competition worked its magic this time and as a result, two clubs and the fans who haven’t enjoyed too much limelight over the years find themselves centre-stage in front of a global audience.While Portsmouth versus Cardiff City threatens to be overshadowed by next Wednesday’s all-English Champions League Final in Moscow, few would begrudge the South Wales and South Coast sides their tilt at glory inside Wembley Stadium today.Some churlish souls have bemoaned the absence of any of the usual suspects - but the fact that none of the Big Four is involved for the first time since 1991 makes this final refreshingly special for many others.After all, last year, when the final returned to its spiritual home - Wembley - after six seasons when it was exiled, ironically, to Cardiff, the two best teams in the country were involved in one of the most tedious and lacklustre showpieces for years. It is to be hoped not only that Pompey and the Bluebirds put on more of a spectacle today, but also that Manchester United and Chelsea contrive to generate a more stirring occasion in Moscow next week than they managed in North-West London 12 months ago.Neither Portsmouth nor Cardiff are exactly used to such occasions: Pompey’s one and only FA Cup finl before today was back in 1939 when the world was moving inexorably towards a far more deadly conflict. Pompey upset the form book by beating hot favourites Wolves emphatically to lift the Cup, which they kept (under the bed of a club official, according to legend) for some seven years until the tournament was re-started in 1946 after the Second World War. The last of Cardiff’s two FA Cup final appearances was in 1927, two years after their first, and remains in the history books as the only occasion the Cup has been won by a team outside England. The Bluebirds defeated Arsenal 1-0, with the Gunners’ Welsh goalkeeper, Dan Lewis, left distraught after allowing a shot by Scot Hugh Ferguson to slip out of his grasp, squirm beneath him and trickle over the line.The South Wales Echo on Saturday, April 23rd 1927 boomed: “City Bring The English Cup To Wales. Welsh Player’s Costly Mistake Gives The Bluebirds Victory.”
Yet if neither club has won much in recent years, there will be some experienced players on both sides o help calm the nerves of those who might be overawed by the occasion. Pompey keeper David James and Cardiff striker Robbie Fowler, for example, were both in the Liverpool side that strutted their stuff pre-match on the Wembley pitch in those notorious cream suits in 1996 before losing out to Manchester United near the end of the following 90 minutes. The suits remain far more menorable than the game itself, which was another tedious final.
Fowler will probably be starting on the bench on Saturday after recovering from injury, but James will be back between the posts for Pompey after missing the last three games of the season, and his return will be a huge boost for manager Harry Redknapp, because the England keeper has been arguably Portsmouth’s best player on their march to Wembley.
It should also be noted that Pompey have not exactly been prolific scorers on their Cup run. Unusually, they have got to the final without a top marksman because Benjani left the club in January and was replaced by Jermain Defoe, who has been and remains cup-tied. Defoe will be a big miss for Redknapp’s side. His absence means Kanu, Milan Baros and David Nugent have the opportunity to make a name for themselves, but none of that trio has been in red-hot scoring form this season.
Cardiff City have Fowler and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink among their strikers, but the Bluebirds netted just 59 goals in 46 games in The Championship this season, three fewer than bottom club Colchester United. So the form book suggests that goals will not exactly be raining into the Wembley nets.
Interestingly, the Cup will be won today by an English manager - either Redknapp or Dave Jones - for the first time since Joe Royle led Everton to glory in 1995. That was also, coincidentally, the last time the Cup was won by a side not from the Big Four. On the pitch, though, the foreign quota will be relatively high, especially in the Portsmouth team.
Cardiff boss Jones said in the build-up: “Maybe, over the last few years, the FA Cup has lost a little bit of magic because it’s been the same teams [contesting the final].
“But Portsmouth and ourselves have broken the mould this season - we want to make our own history.”
As for Redknapp, 61, he has not previously reached an FA Cup final in more than 40 years in the game as player and manager, and he wants to end what has perhaps been his most impressive season as the boss by bringing a major trophy to Fratton Park.
“It’s great for everyone at the club,” he said. “I look at where we were two years ago [just avoiding relegation from the Premier League], or five years ago, when we were near the bottom of the Championship, and now we are in the Cup final.”
Both managers, and clubs, have come through tough times to enjoy a big day at Wembley. Redknapp was arrested and bailed in November as part of a police investigation into football corruption. The ex-Bournemouth, West Ham and Southampton manager vehemently denies any wrongdoing and has initiated legal action against the police regarding his arrest.
Meanwhile Jones lost his job at Southampton a few years ago when he needed time out to fight utterly groundless and malicious accusations against him in court. And his current club, Cardiff, have endured a worrying campaign as an attempt by Swiss investment bank Langston to force them to repay £24million in loans was successfully defended. Had Cardiff lost that battle, they could have been wound up.
The two clubs share more in common than a solitary FA Cup win and managers who were once in charge of Southampton: both are planning to build new stadiums. Winning the FA Cup would boost the coffers to help finance those projects because it guarantees entry into the Uefa Cup.
However, Jones insisted: “We’re not even thinking about that. What we are thinking about is trying to beat a very good side. If we do that, the rest will follow.” And if they do achieve that, Cardiff will become the first club from outside the top flight to lift the Cup since 1980, when West Ham, then in the old Second Division, beat Arsenal 1-0. In fact the Bluebirds are the first non-Premier League club to reach the final since Millwall in 2004, and the 25th team from outside the top-flight ever to contest the final.
Cup Final History
Pompey will be playing in their fourth FA Cup final; the others were in 1929 (lost 0-2 to Bolton), 1934 (lost 1-2 to Man City) and 1939 (beat Wolves 4-1). But their last visit to Wembley was in 1942, when they lost to Brentford in the London War Cup final.
The Bluebirds are taking part in their third FA Cup final. They were beaten 0-1 by Sheffield United in 1925., but two years later returned to Wembley, again as a top division club, and beat Arsenal 1-0.
Recent Form
Pompey go into the final on their worst un of form of the season. They lost their last four League games, and haven’t won in five, since beating West Ham 1-0 away on 8th April. Pompey also haven’t scored in three matches or 336 minutes (five hours 36 minutes) since John Utaka got their goal in the 3-1 away defeat by Manchester City on 20th April. That was Pompey’s only goal in just under eight hours of football.Cardiff, in contrast, ended their League season with a victory and a flurry of goals. They beat Barnsley 3-0 at home on the final day, and although it was their first win in four games, they scored three goals in each of their last two - while conceding three goals in each of the three matches prior to that clean sheet against their FA Cup semi-final opponents Barnsley.
This Cup Run Portsmouth beat three Championship clubs in successive rounds at the start of their current FA Cup campaign: Ipswich, Plymouth and Preston. Then they beat Manchester United thanks to a Sulley Ali Muntari penalty 12 minutes from time at Old Trafford in the sixth round. In the semi-final against West Bromwich Albion they triumphed against the run of play when ex-Albion striker Kanu netted in the 54th minute.Cardiff knocked out non-league Chasetown, League Two Hereford United, Championship rivals Wolves and Premier League Middlesbrough before achieving a semi-final triumph over fellow Championship side Barnsley.
Head-To-Head
Portsmouth take on Cardiff today for the first time ever in the FA Cup. But the pair faced each other 54 times in competitive matches, in the Football League and League Cup. Pompey have the slightly better record with 22 victories to the Bluebirds’ 18.However, the clubs have not competed in the same division for 23 years, since Pompey won 1-2 at Ninian Park and Cardiff drew 0-0 at Fratton Park in 1984-85, in the old Second Division. Since then they have met three times in the League Cup. Pompey won over two legs in the second round of the 1990-91 competition, Cardiff triumphed over two first round legs in 1995-96, and Portsmouth beat the Bluebirds 0-2 in the fourth round in 2004-05.
FORM GUIDEPortsmouth (all Premier League)
11 May v Fulham (H) LOST 0-1
03 May v Middlesbrough (A) LOST 0-2
27 Apr v Blackburn (H) LOST 0-1
20 Apr v Man City (A) LOST 1-3 (Utaka)
12 Apr v Newcastle (H) DREW 0-0
08 Apr v West Ham (A) WON 1-0 (Kranjcar)
Cardiff (all Coca-Cola Football League Championship)
04 May v Barnsley (H) WON 3-0 (Parry, McNaughton, Ledley)
26 Apr v Burnley (A) DREW 3-3 (Ledley - pen, Ramsey, Thompson)
22 Apr v Wolves (A) LOST 0-3
19 Apr v Scunthorpe (A) LOST 2-3 (Hasselbaink, Ledley)
12 Apr v Blackpool (H) WON 3-1 (McPhail, Sinclair, Whittingham)
09 Apr v Ipswich (A) DREW 1-1 (Rae)
TEAM NEWS
Pompey have experienced England internationals Sol Campbell and David James fit to play after recovering from injuries. Strikers David Nugent and Kanu are expected to shake off niggles to feature, but Redknapp is without cup-tied striker Jermain Defoe.Cardiff’s Robbie Fowler has not played for five months since undergoing hip surgery, but the ex-Liverpool and England striker will have a late fitness test.
Paul Parry is set to continue up-front alongside veteran Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the Bluebirds’ attack.
Defender and club captain Darren Purse, 31, is expected to start on the bench because of Roger Johnson’s impressive partnership with Glenn Loovens. Stephen McPhail will wear the captain’s armband.
Teams:
Portsmouth (from): James; Johnson, Campbell, Distin, Hreidarsson, Diarra, Muntari, Diop, Kranjcar, Utaka, Kanu, Baros, Pedro Mendes, Davis, Nugent, Lauren, Hughes, Pamarot, Ashdown.
Cardiff (from): Enckelman, McNaughton, Loovens, Johnson, Capaldi, Whittingham, Rae, McPhail, Ledley, Parry, Hasselbaink, Oakes, Purse, Blake, Ramsey, Scimeca, Sinclair, Thompson, Fowler.
This is set to be a cracking night of European football, why not have a quick flutter by checking out our Football Betting tips. Catch up on the live football scores of the match, or watch live football on your PC of tonights match.
