FA Cup Final - Who Needs The Big Four

Wembley Stadium today hosted the annual English FA Cup final, but this season is a world away from what fans are used to seeing.

Usually when we think of the FA Cup Final, teams like Man United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal spring to mind. But this seasons opponents are Portsmouth and Cardiff City.

This is what the magic of the FA Cup is all about, and as a neutral fan I certainly wasn't disappointed. Rather than see 2 teams tactically trying to outdo each other and pick away slowly, these two went at each other from the off and gave some very good football for their fans.

I watched this game as a neutral but I have to mention three points that swung my allegiances towards Cardiff City. For one I'm a Welshman, Secondly everyone loves to support the underdogs and finally I'm an avid Man United fan and since Portsmouth knocked out United, then Cardiff earns Brownie points without doing a thing!!

In the opening half hour...both teams had their fair share of the ball and both created chances. In actual fact Cardiff could have been in front if a header from the corner had been 12 inches lower.

On 37 minutes Portsmouth finally made the breakthrough as John Utaka raced down the right wing, and crossed the ball in very low for Nwankwo Kanu to aim towards goal. Enckelman parried the ball straight back to Kanu to fire home at the second attempt- Enckleman's first conceded goal in the FA Cup this season. Anybody who would now think that Cardiff would roll over and give Pompey the lions share of the game would be foolishly mistaken as Cardiff pressed again and again, even getting the ball in the Portsmouth net albeit after the ref had blown for a foul.

First Half ended 1-0 to Portsmouth.

From the start of the second half it seemed as though Portsmouth were really beginning to outplay Cardiff with chance after chance, and if not for a spectacular miss kick from Kanu it really should have been 2-0 on 53 minutes. That moved signalled a lull in the game really as both teams started to slow down. Cardiff appearing as the more tired of the two, starting to play much more long ball plays but still not giving up and I must concede that they really were getting the most chances towards the last ten minutes.

Final whistle blows after four added minutes and Portsmouth are the winners of the 2008 FA Cup! Congratulations to Harry Redknapp and his boys! but I also must congratulate Cardiff City on a mammoth performance with a few of their players visibly exhausted and still fighting right until the final whistle.

The last time Portsmouth appeared in the FA Cup Final was 69 years ago, and today FINALLY they have won the oldest tournament in football history.