Broadsheet Views: FA Cup Final, 17th May 2008, Pompey 1-0 Cardiff City!

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/05/18/sfgpor118.xml
FA Cup final: Kanu punishes Cardiff to win Cup
By Roy Collins at Wembley Stadium, Last Updated: 1:12am BST 18/05/2008
Portsmouth (1) 1 Cardiff City (0) 0
Nwankwo Kanu scored the goal that won Portsmouth the FA Cup and believes his strike should be rewarded with an improved contract at Fratton Park. The Nigerian striker, 31, is on a one-year rolling deal at the club but after scoring the winners in the semi-final against West Bromwich and in this victory he said: ''I have got a one-year contract already and you never know what's going to happen. What I'm saying is that after scoring a winner like this you have to say 'thank you very much'."

Kanu has infuriated and entranced in equal measure throughout his career in England, an Indian rubber man of a footballer who can sometimes display the balance and agility of a tightrope walker and, at others, look as though he only has two feet so as to double his chances of tripping over one of them.

But no one in the game would begrudge him the goal that decided the 127th FA Cup final, which could have been labelled the 'Underdog final', since neither club coms from the fashionable, big-money side of the tracks, Cardiff still fighting off court action from creditors that threatens their existence.

It was Kanu's third FA Cup-winner's medal but the first time he really felt he had made a contribution to the occasion, having played a total of only 14 minutes in three appearances for Arsenal, an unused substitute when he last walked up the steps to the Royal Box a winner at the Millennium Stadium in 2003.

This time he was already practising his dance moves on the sidelines, having been substituted late on, when he glanced up at the big screen and saw his name flash up as man of the match, his goal having earned him legend status at Pompey, winning them their first FA Cup since 1939, after which Hitler invaded Poland and the trophy stayed locked up in Portsmouth's Guildhall for seven years.

The afternoon did not get off to a foot-perfect start, guest of honour Sir Bobby Robson slipping on the red carpet as he was presented to the two teams and Pompey fans letting themselves down by booing the first FA Cup final rendition of Land Of My Fathers by Katherine Jenkins. How can anyone boo the lovely Katherine?

The match was not a classic, either, though compared to the dreadful fare served up by Manchester United and Chelsea last year, the first at the new Wembley, it was a feast of football. It even looked as though Championship side Cardiff would boost neutrals' hopes of one last upset in this season of cup surprises by scoring an early goal, England goalkeeper David James only able to wish a Peter Whittingham shot wide when it took a huge deflection off another Cardiff player.

In Cardiff's only other appearance in an FA Cup final, in 1927, they secured a 1-0 win over Arsenal thanks to a horrendous mistake by Welsh goalkeeper Dan Lewis, whose error haunted him to his grave. This time it was a fumble by Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman which produced the only goal, Enckleman still trying to live down a mistake at Aston Villa five years ago which gave Birmingham victory and which is still a favourite on YouTube.

His error here was not quite so bad but when he failed to hold on to John Utaka's right wing cross in the 37th minute, Kanu, with a striker's instinct, was on hand to strike it home, before performing a little victory jig in front of goal. That was partly a celebration that he would not be making headlines as the man who cost Pompey the trophy, having hit a post earlier when facing an unguarded net after he had rounded Enckelman following a sublime first-touch back-heel that took out his marker, Glenn Loovens.

With his team ahead, Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp could afford to sit quietly in his dugout in his pinstriped suit, topped by a flower in his buttonhole in club blue.

His opposite number, Dave Jones, was far more restless, as losing managers generally are, standing for long periods with his hands on his hips, weighing up his options.

Just after the hour, he signalled to the fourth official that he was ready to make his big play, pulling off Whittingham and sending on teenager Aaron Ramsey, who is apparently the subject of a £10 million offer from Manchester United. It might well have proved an inspired substitution if young Ramsey had not hesitated for a split second when presented with a scoring opportunity late on, allowing Pompey defenders to close the gap.

As referee Mike Dean infuriated Pompey fans by adding four extra minutes, Cardiff sensed that they might still have time to write one more giant-killing story into this extraordinary season. One more opportunity did fall the way of Roger Johnson but his shot was deflected to safety and within seconds, Jones was walking to congratulate Redknapp as the final whistle blew.

If no one begrudged Kanu his day in the sun, not that there was much of it in north-west London, many in the game will also be happy to see Redknapp pick up his first trophy after 25 years in management. Redknapp had already warned the club's Russian owner, Alexandre Gaydamak, that life could not get any better than this, which led to speculation that he would announce his retirement after this match. But as Redknapp donned a blue and white scarf and cradled the cup, he looked like a man who fancied his chances of another big day out.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/05/18/sfnfro118.xml
FA Cup final: Harry Redknapp's turbulent year ends with victory for Portsmouth at Wembley
By Jonathan Wilson, Last Updated: 1:12am BST 18/05/2008
Harry Redknapp spoke of a "great day" at the end of "a difficult year" after Portsmouth beat Cardiff City to win the FA Cup and secure Uefa Cup qualification. Nwankwo Kanu scored the only goal of the game after 37 minutes, reacting first after the Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman had spilled a cross from John Utaka.

Redknapp was arrested in November as part of an ongoing investigation by the City of London police into corruption in football, and last month lost his sister-in-law, Pat Lampard, to pneumonia at the age of 56. "My wife keeps me going," he said. "Everybody goes through these tough few weeks, but you have to go to work. You've got to keep going. I can't go in and look down. My job's to go in there and make sure everybody's up and not to feel sorry for myself."

Still it was a downbeat Redknapp who spoke of trying to "sneak away about seven" to return to his Sandbanks home and have an Italian meal and a bottle of red wine with his wife. "It was important we got the result. There's glory in winning the FA Cup. In terms of football, keeping Portsmouth up when I went back there was a much bigger achievement, but it's great to come to Wembley and win the Cup."

It was Portsmouth's first major trophy since they successfully defended the league title in 1950, and Redknapp acknowledges it will be difficult to take the club further.

"I do want to strengthen the team," he said. "The owner has been fantastic in backing me, and if we can get the two or three targets I'm after, we can establish ourselves as a top-half team."
His goalkeeper David James said: "Harry's a legend now isn't he? Hats off, well done Harry."

The Cardiff manager Dave Jones suggested that his side's achievement in reaching the final will make the competition harder to win in future.

"If I was a chairman of a club in the Premier League I'd be wanting to know why Cardiff were there and we weren't," he said.

"We've proved to other teams that they can do what they might have thought was impossible." He accepted that the game turned on Enckelman's error, but refused to blame the goalkeeper. "It's something that happens," he said.

"It's just unfortunate that it happens in a cup final."

Enckelman himself insisted he wouldn't allow it to "haunt" him. "I'm sure fingers will be pointed at me in the papers but it doesn't bother me," he said. "It was a tricky ball to deal with and that's why keepers are under pressure."


http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/kanu-goal-wins-fa-cup-for-portsmouth-830158.html
Kanu goal wins FA Cup for PortsmouthAPSaturday, 17 May 2008

Nwankwo Kanu scored a first-half goal Saturday for Portsmouth to beat Cardiff 1-0 and win the FA Cup final for the first time since 1939.

The Nigerian striker punished a fumble by Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman in the 37th minute of the 127th FA Cup final to give manager Harry Redknapp his first major trophy in 25 years of coaching.

"Fantastic. For everybody, especially my family," said Redknapp, whose sister-in-law Pat Lampard — mother of Chelsea's Frank Lampard — died of cancer last month. "The fans, the players. It's been a difficult year off the field so this is a dream come true. We're a very close family — it's for all my grandchildren and everybody. The players are all great, I love them all."
Bidding to become the first lower-league team to win the famous trophy since West Ham beat Arsenal in 1980, League Championship club Cardiff threatened occasionally. But Kanu had one of the worst misses in the world's oldest domestic cup competition when he missed an open net in the 22nd and hit the post instead.

Cardiff's only FA Cup triumph was in 1927 and the Welsh club hasn't been in the top flight of English soccer since 1962. But Dave Jones' team gave the Premier League's eighth-place finisher an early scare when Paul Parry got past Sol Campbell only for Pompey goalkeeper David James to race off his line and block his shot with his legs.

But Portsmouth should have gone ahead in the 22nd when Kanu finished off a slick move down the left by twisting past Glenn Loovens and Enckelman. The lanky Nigerian was left with an open goal but, from an acute angle, hit the outside of the post.

Kanu, who scored Portsmouth's goal in the semifinal victory over West Bromwich Albion in the same stadium, made up for it 12 minutes later with some major help from Enckelman. The goalkeeper fumbled a cross from the right by John Utaka and the ball bobbed up for Kanu to stab it over the line to the agony of the Cardiff fans behind the goal.

Loovens had the ball in the Portsmouth net in first-half injury time with a lob but referee Mike Dean had already whistled for a foul because he had controlled the ball with his arm.

In the second half, Portsmouth appealed for a penalty when Loovens appeared to block a shot from Kanu with his arm as Pompey chased a second goal.

Aaron Ramsey, a 17-year-old Welshman tipped by manager Dave Jones as a star of the future, had to watch the first hour from the substitute's bench. Jones then sent him on to boost the offense, but it was Portsmouth who went nearer to scoring when substitute Dave Nugent fired an angled shot which Enckelman pushed round his near post.


http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/former-gunners-bang-on-target-for-portsmouth-830272.html
Former Gunners bang on target for Portsmouth
Kanu, Diarra and Campbell combine, with Adams' help, for a famous victory. By Nick Townsend at Wembley
Sunday, 18 May 2008

At the end, as his team finally knew they had staved off the frantic best Cardiff City could hurl at them, the Portsmouth captain Sol Campbell stood arms outstretched towards the heavens in his moment of triumph. In the season that Arsenal succumbed so ignominiously to Manchester United, in a season in which the Premier League's Big Four surrendered its recent "ownership" of this competition, it was somehow appropriate that Campbell was one of a trio of former Gunners who contributed so significantly to Pompey's victory.

There was Nwankwo Kanu, scorer of the winner, following goalkeeper Peter Enckelman's gift to him, who, at the final whistle, donned a cap bearing one word: "King". It was scarcely the kind of epithet the Nigerian appeared likely to receive when Arsène Wenger released him in July 2004 – any more than Campbell's career graph was expected to take an upward curve when he left the north London club in July 2006 after a troubled season during which he had departed Highbury at half-time of a game with West Ham, his psyche shot through by a wretched individual display.

And what of Lassana Diarra, in France's Euro 2008 squad and the kind of player everybody admires, but who only amanager like Harry Redknapp could truly love? The midfielder, whose class and energy go so well in harness, as he demonstrated in Pompey's sixth-round defeat of Manchester United, was here last year as an unused substitute with Chelsea. Impatient to establish himself he joined Arsenal but left them after six months, complaining that he "wanted more consideration from the manager [Wenger]". One can assume he received that from his current boss last night after this Tale of the Expected lived down to our expectations as a footballing extravaganza. Not that Redknapp, or his assistant, Tony Adams, the former Arsenal captain who lifted the trophy here in 1993 and 1998, would be troubled by such criticism.
In truth, Portsmouth did just enough. One suspected that they always possessed reserves of class, if required. And their ambition was no more exemplified than in the former Gunners, who in their different ways are all the type of players that Redknapp loves to acquire when his peers may exhibit caution. Yesterday they rewarded him with his first trophy, which he hugged as though it was his wife, Sandra. Indeed, the victory, he said, was for the woman whose twin sister Pat Lampard, mother of Chelsea's Frank, had died a fortnight before.

For Redknapp and his players, Europe beckons. And their followers can dream of what may follow. It was their day yesterday, as every man, woman, child and innumerable sailors – presumably absent on, rather than without, leave – relished the occasion, one on which captain Campbell and his crew rarely looked like Captain Pugwash and his. Yet, despite the claims of Steve Claridge, briefly manager of Portsmouth and now one of our best radio pundits, that this was a "renaissance" for the old trophy, it is more likely to be remembered as the season in which the passage to the final and the fall of some of those en route – notably Liverpool and Chelsea, both at the hands of Barnsley – will remain in the memory rather more than yesterday's climax.
No royalty was there to be presented to the team, unless you include the indefatigable Sir Bobby Robson, who is battling cancer. And none of the Big Four were here because, to be frank, their heart wasn't in it. United could consider themselves unfortunate to have been denied a semi-final place by Pompey, yet one rather imagines that Sir Alex Ferguson was privately content, given the other matters to which his team had still to attend .

From the start, Pompey attempted to stamp Premier League class on affairs. They began not so much with a complacent attitude, but as a superior pugilist would attempt to keep his opponent at bay, biding their time and waiting for the opportunity to deliver that beauty to the chin. It was a dangerous tactic, as Dave Jones' Championship side attacked their opponents with gusto in the first half and managed some dangerous body shots, David James being forced to save from Paul Parry and Peter Whittingham dispatching a deflected effort which could have gone anywhere, but fortunately for Pompey drifted wide.

Midway through the half, Pompey's understated approach should have borne dividends. A glorious move culminated with Kanu rounding goalkeeper Enckelman; yet in that wonderfully languid manner of his he contrived to strike the post. It may have been an acute angle but he could have virtually walked the ball in. Kanu atoned just after the half-hour, though, taking advantage of Cardiff's failure to prevent a John Utaka cross, though even then Enckelman was culpable, handing the Nigerian an opportunity which this time he could not spurn. For Kanu, yesterday's medal supplements a collection which already includes three Dutch titles and a Champions' League winner's medal with Ajax, a Uefa Cup winner's medal with Internazionale, and in England two Premier League titles and an FA Cup winner's medal. As well as 69 Nigeria caps he also won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics.

City's fortunes may have taken a different turn had referee Mike Dean not noticed Glenn Loovens' handball which denied his side an equaliser just before the break. Though there were some nervous final minutes for Pompey, you had no doubt they wouldmaintain their advantage. They did so, to the pleasure of Redknapp. On Thursday it had been suggested he could bow out at the age of 61 because of his disillusionment over the dawn police raids on his home and the effect on his wife. By Friday he was denying it. After yesterday, surely nothing could have been further from the mind of the Portsmouth manager. Could it?

What they said
"It's fantastic. For everybody, my family especially. It's been a difficult year off the field so this is a dream come true. We're a very close family – it's for allmy grandchildren and everybody."
Harry Redknapp, after a season of police arrests and family bereavement, finally gets his hands on the FA Cup

"I don't know what to say, for once. Harry's a legend now, isn't he? First Cup in 69 years? Hats off to him."
David James, the Portsmouth goalkeeper who has lost his two previous Cup finals, pays tribute to his manager

"This is the best moment of my life. I started the game and I won the Cup for Portsmouth. I have felt nothing like this."
Kanu, who won the FA Cup twice with Arsenal, hits a new high

"It was a tough one to deal with. I should maybe have done better, but it is one of those things."
The Cardiff goalkeeper,Peter Enckelman, on his mistake that led to Kanu's winning goal

"There wasn't a great deal in it. There's no one to blame, but it's hard to swallow. A slight mistake cost us. We gave it everything we've got and we've done everyone proud. What we have done today is prove that maybeother teams can achieve what they thought was impossible."
Dave Jones, the Cardiff manager, finds some solace in defeat

"Distin, Campbell, James, Johnson, Hreidarsson. They have all been fantastic at the backThey are all great.I love them all."
Redknapp goes all soppy over his back line

"It's fantastic. This is a brilliant day for everyone who's connected with Portsmouth. We worked hard, we had our luck through the roundsbut in the end the result was good."
Sol Campbell, before going up to lift the Cup. A fitting farewell to Portsmouth?

"Just keep going. We've done well in the first half, we just have to watch their set-pieces. Don't get silly, just be sensible and keep the ball."
Jermain Defoe, Portsmouth's Cup-tied striker, gives his half-time team talk on TV

"Kanu and Portsmouth think they have taken the lead!"
John Motson is confused after Kanu's goal, thinking it's going to be disallowed

"They have."
As ever, Mark Lawrenson digs Motty out of trouble

"Portsmouth have wonall 21 games this seasonin which they have scored first."
Motty recovers his composure with a trademark stat

"And the Pompey chimes are ringing around Wembley."
And soon he's flying with a trademark cliché

"He's looking a bit blank. Just get the DVD."
Lawro tells Glenn Loovens why his goal was disallowed

"That sounds like the sponsors have chosen it. It's the classic: give it to the goalscorer."
And the BBC pundit voices his disapproval at the choice of Kanu as man of the match

"And Redknapp rules the waves in the naval town of Portsmouth."
Motty, that's enough


http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/cardiff-city-0-portsmouth-1-harrys-cup-final-wish-comes-true-830273.html
Cardiff City 0 Portsmouth 1: Harry's Cup final wish comes true
Kanu gives Pompey first Cup triumph for 69 years and books ticket to Europe as Cardiff adventure ends in heartache
By Steve Tongue at WembleySunday, 18 May 2008

Told that the FA Cup final between Portsmouth and Cardiff was decided by a goalkeeping error, any football fan unaware of the details would doubtless have assumed another calamityon the part of David James. Alas for Wales and his native Finland, the villain of the piece on this occasion was Cardiff's Peter Enckelman, whose failure to collect a low cross eight minutes before half-time led to the only goal, by Portsmouth's semi-final scorer Nwankwo Kanu.

James, faulted for the goals with which he lost Wembley finals for Liverpool and Aston Villa, did his work more confidently this time to collect a winner's medal at the third attempt. As ever he was served splendidly by Sol Campbell and Sylvain Distin, the central defenders in front of him, who were given plenty to do in the early and last stages of a game that never quite built on the momentum of the first half-hour.

Like West Bromwich six weeks ago, Cardiff planned to take the game to the Premier League side and worried them in that period with their confident possession. This time, however, Portsmouth's manager, Harry Redknapp, was more conservative, employing a five-man midfield, and once in fronthis team were able to play on the counterattack. They were comfortable until a hectic final few minutes in which the Championship upstarts were unable to fashion a lucky break of their own.

So Portsmouth's minimalists, having taken the Cup with five 1-0 wins and one by 2-1, will return to Wembley for the Community Shield against their only Premier League victims, Manchester United, in August and then set out on a European campaign for the first time.

For Cardiff, settled in the middle of the Championship for three successive seasons, the task is to move into serious contention for a place among the big boys; their manager, Dave Jones, would settle more immediately for some money to buy a player. Like many of their nine lower-division predecessors who had reached the final since the Second World War, the Welsh side had achieved little in the League. Although they must have been encouraged by Portsmouth's recent run and, especially, the one goal Redknapp's team had scored in their last eight hours' football. The Welsh following certainly had most to sing about until silenced by Kanu's piece of good fortune.

In the first minute James had to come sprawling from his goal to beat Paul Parry to a long diagonal ball, and 10 minutes later he only denied the same player with an outstretched leg. Almost immediately, the keeper was flat-footed and praying as Campbell headed out a cross towards Peter Whittingham, whose drive was deflected wide by a team-mate.

Unfortunately for Cardiff, their own goalkeeper looked less secure when tested. He escaped from his failure to hold Sulley Muntari's free-kick, and was let off again midway through the first half. Hermann Hreidarsson played Muntari down the left for a cross that Kanu controlled in typically nonchalant fashion, drifting past a defender and Enckelman before jabbing against a post when he should have scored.

Back at the other end in a contest of swift ebb and flow, Roger Johnson met Whittingham's free-kick with a header that was only marginally too high. Eight minutes from half-time, however, Portsmouth were undeservedlyahead. John Utaka, hitherto quiet on the right, cleverly made just sufficient room for himself to bend a cross past the left-back Tony Capaldi; Enckelman spilled it right at the huge feet of Kanu, who had a tap-in, just as in the semi-final. Johnson looked down at his keeper in horror.

Even then there was time before the interval for Cardiff's Kevin McNaughton to prod Parry's low cross wide and for Glenn Loovens, the Dutch defender, to find the net, but only after he had used his elbow to bring the ball down. It now suited Portsmouth with their extra midfielder to play on the break, which they did to good effect at the start of the second half. In a rare move of Premier League class, Niko Kranjcar's back-heel sent Lassana Diarra away down the left for a square cross that Kanu hit against Loovens, appealing in vain for handball.

Jones blinked first when it came to substitutions, withdrawing Whittingham to send on one of the youngest-ever Cup finalists in Aaron Ramsey, at 17 years and 144 days, and Steve Thompson soon followed in place of a tiring, ineffective Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

Redknapp replaced Utaka with David Nugent, but put him down the right instead of his more natural role through the middle. That suggested Portsmouth were happy with what they had. Cardiff's best hope seemed to be from a set-piece, though Ports-mouth's height in defence meant they were not as vulnerable as most to Capaldi's long throw. Loovens managed a header late on but the ball bounced down and up over the bar.

Wembley man-for-man marking, by Ronald Atkin
Cardiff City
4 Peter Enckelman The Finn, on loan from Blackburn, literally had a punchy game, some timely, others decidedly not, and his spilling of John Utaka's cross was responsible for the goalwhich denied Cardiff their hopes of the Cup.
6 Kevin McNaughton The prematurely greyingright-back, known as the Silver Fox, lived up his his reputation as Cardiff's most consistent player and he kept going gallantly, even when reduced to a limp nearthe end.
7 Glenn Loovens The Dutch centre-back, who was solid in defence for most of the time, can be deemed unlucky to have his excellent scoring shot disallowed in first-half stoppage timewhen the ball struck his arm before he shot for goal.
7 Roger Johnson The scorer of one of the goals which put paid to Middlesbrough, he almost showed Portsmouth how it was done too, with a couple of fine headers from free-kicks.
6 Tony Capaldi The Norwegian-born Irish international, renowned for his throwing skill, brought a few moments of anxiety in Portsmouth's defence with long-range hurling and was solid in the Cardiff back line.
4 Peter Whittingham The former England Under-21 man is acknowledged as the most technically accomplished player on Cardiff's books but it justdidn't happen for him here, as he was crowded out by Portsmouth's numbers in midfield and replaced after an hour.
6Gavin Rae The ex-Dundee and Rangers midfielder could not disrupt Portsmouth's command of the midfield, hard though he laboured.
6 Stephen McPhail The captain, used to battling hard when with Leeds, gave another full 90 minutes of effort and was the pick of Cardiff's midfield, even after taking a nasty blow in the mouth.
5 Joe Ledley The scoring hero of the semi-final win over Barnsley was singled out for special treatment and it put him out of his normal, confident stride.
8 Paul Parry Cardiff's joint top scorer proved a regular threat to Pompey's ageing central defence with his searing pace but could not quite add a further, crucial goal.
4 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink Spent most of his time wide on the left flank, contributing little, falling over regularly and looking his age – he is 36 years old – before being assigned the benching whichwas overdue.
Manager:
6 Dave Jones The honour of being the first English manager since Joe Royle in 1995 to lift the Cup went instead to Redknapp, but Jones can only be happy with getting to Wembley. His previous best in the FA Cup was a quarter-final.
Substitutes:
5 Aaron Ramsey (61 min) The course of the game was established by the time he came on and there was little he attempted which changed things.
5 Stephen Thompson (70 min) Little opportunity to influence anything, as Portsmouth were in command by the timehe arrived.
Portsmouth
6 David James Reliably howler-prone on the big occasions – errors cost his teams (Liverpool and Aston Villa) in two previous Cup finals – he got away with it yesterday when a mispunch left Glenn Loovens to curl in his disallowed goal just beforehalf-time. Little to worry about after that, though.
6 Glen Johnson Always eager, sometimes over-eager, to get upfield but spoiled much hard work by conceding too manyfree-kicks unnecessarily.
6 Sol Campbell At 33, clearly less than fully match-fit after nearly a month out injured, and his lack of pace was regularly exposed by Paul Parry'sacceleration, especially in thefirst half. But got his act together better subsequently.
7 Sylvain Distin Portsmouth players' Player of the Season lived up to that title. Was always on hand to lend Campbell support during Cardiff's spells of supremacy, and the central duo were in command of thingsafter half-time.
6 Hermann Hreidarsson The Icelander, at 33, laboured a little at times and was booked for dissent when he need not have been, but he proved a vital part of the Pompey defensive barrier.
6 Pedro Mendes Perhaps a surprising choice, he was deputed to patrol in front of the back four and did a decent job of it before giving way after 77 minutes to Papa Bouba Diop.
5 John Utaka The Nigerian enjoyed few opportunities to unveil his blistering speed but he takes credit for the cross from which Kanu scored the winner. A leg strain forced him off after68 minutes.
6 Sulley Muntari The Ghanaian had a comparatively quiet Wembley, just once going close with his left foot, but he had done his bit for the cause with that penalty up at Old Trafford in the sixth round.
7 Lassana Diarra In his "Makelele with pace" role he proved as hard to dispossess as ever, but his passing lacked its normal bite and he picked up a silly booking in added time.
6 Nico Kranjcar A little muted after an early second-half yellow card, the Croatian found it easier to get through the England defence at Wembley last year than he did here.
8 Nwankwo Kanu The long-legged Nigerian veteran with the perma-smile did it again. After hitting the post early on, he was there to poke the only goal when the chance was spilled to him, and until David Nugent joined him up front with 20 minutes left he excelled as the lone striker.
Manager:
7 Harry Redknapp It has been a mixed year for Redknapp, with police investigations and a family death, so he deserved this. As David James said at the end," 'Arry's a legend, ain't he?" His substitutions were spot-on, too.
Substitutes:
5 David Nugent (68 min) Hardly one of Redknapp's successes, he almost surprised everyone with an angled shot soon after coming on which demanded a fine save.Also came on: Papa Bouba Diop (78) for Mendes; Milan Baros (87) for Kanu

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/no-calamity-as-james-lifts-curse-830274.html
No calamity as James lifts curse
By Guy HodgsonSunday, 18 May 2008
If you think the white suits were the worst mistake David James has made in an FA Cup final, think again. Before yesterday he had been to the Wembley showpiece twice and had to endure a long night of lonely self-examination contemplating clangers afterwards. The 1996 final is best remembered for James's disastrous attempt at haute couture, which condemned his Liverpool team-mates to parading under the Twin Towers dressed like refugees from an accident in a flour factory. Even cricketers adopted coloured clothing by way of protest.

Take your mind if you can off the men in the white suits, and the pivotal moment was Eric Cantona's exquisite volley from the edge of the box. But the reason why the Frenchman was able to win the Cup for Manchester United was James's flap at a corner. Four years later James, who had moved to Aston Villa, was blamed for Roberto Di Matteo's winner for Chelsea, which made it two played, two lost, two question marks. No wonder the Portsmouth goalkeeper had a slightly jaundiced attitude.

"My own Cup finals have been shit," he said last week. "The build-up is nice, you enjoy it, great day out, right until the final whistle and then it's horrible. It's one of the worst experiences in football." To give him his due, he has spent most of this season living down the "Calamity James" nickname, and he arrived at the new Wembley not so much an accident waiting to happen as a footballer reinvented.

He was as important as anyone in getting Portsmouth to Wembley, he has regained his place as England's No 1 and while it would be an exaggeration to describe him as a national treasure, he has gone from being a figure of fun to one of respect.

At 37 he is approaching the venerable stage, but that was in keeping with his defence, which included Sol Campbell (33), Sylvain Distin (30) and Hermann Hreidarsson (33). What the 23-year-old Glen Johnson talks about to his fellow members of the back five is anyone's guess but it won't be music and, unless he has a passion for Saturday Night Fever, it won't be fashion either.
Not that anybody appeared to be talking in the opening 35 minutes, when the Pompey defence were so flat a simple pass over their heads had Harry Redknapp's version of Dad's Army charging round like Corporal Jones shouting: "Don't panic".

Campbell, who won the Cup twice with Arsenal, looked like a man rusty from being injured and his partner Distin was hardlycommanding either. Over to Jambo, then, and as early as the first minute James, described by assistant manager Tony Adams as "super-fit", had to race off his line to flick the ball away from Paul Parry. Eleven minutes later James spread himself to deny Parry again after the striker had outpaced and outhustled Campbell, so you could understand why he was berating his back four. "We all buzz off each other," he said, and there was no doubt the words were stinging.

Someone was listening, because after a poor opening in which James was more sweeperthan goalkeeper, the attention switched from one thirtysome-thing to another. Kanu was an isolated figure while his keeperwas keeping Pompey in the match, but once his midfielders had the confidence to join him, he became the decisive figure. The 31-year-old Nigerian striker inexplicably hit the post after a splendid dribble on 22 minutes but preyed on Peter Enckelman's mistake to get the winner.

Give Portsmouth a lead and they usually hang on to it, although James did have his usual Wembley moment at the end of the first-half. Time seemed to go into slow motion as he stretched for a corner and, impeded, could gain only the scantiest of touches. Heads went in hands, the ball into the net as Glenn Loovens scooped it over a slew of Portsmouth defenders.
Was this Di Matteo and, most of all, Cantona revisited? Fortunately for James, no. On television replays it was revealed the England keeper had used his forward momentum to get a second, vital, touch that had flicked the ball on to Loovens' forearm.

The referee, much to Pompey's relief, rightly whistled for a free-kick. After that you felt that the Cup final curse that had afflicted James had been lifted, and in the second half he cut a confident and reassuring figure, barely troubled even when Cardiff threw their resources forward towards the end.

There were only fleeting moments of alarm but, most of all no calamities. The final moment saw James rise to collect a cross so coolly it could have been a practice match. "It was scrappy but we deserved it," he said. "We have defended for our lives in every round." The gods of Wembley had smiled on him at last. For the first time following an FA Cup final, you suspect he had a good night.

http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/fa-league-cups/the-fans-final-footballs-special-day-at-wembley-830351.html
The fans final: Football's special day at Wembley
With the Premier League giants out of the picture, Portsmouth and Cardiff supporters watched their teams battle for the FA Cup in a spirit of friendly rivalry. By Cole Moreton and Sadie Gray
Sunday, 18 May 2008

Has football lost its soul? Tell that to Jane Osterholm, one of the tens of thousands of Portsmouth fans who celebrated their team's 1-0 victory in the FA Cup at Wembley. It was the first time Portsmouth had won the cup since 1939, and a proper old-fashioned knees-up ensued at the stadium, in the streets, on the coaches and on the trains heading back to the south coast. "I never thought," she said, "this would happen in my lifetime."

Try telling Harry Redknapp, too, that the game has lost its soul. The Portsmouth manager waved to his wife with a tear in his eye at the final whistle – and not just because of the win, or because he had just become the first English manager since 1995 to lift the cup. Last month his wife Sandra had to endure the death of her twin sister, Pat, mother of the England midfielder Frank Lampard. She was supported by many in the game.

"We're a very close family," said Mr Redknapp, all done up for the day in a pinstripe suit with a flower in his lapel. "My grandchildren are up there," he said, looking up at the stands. "This is a great day for them." Earlier he had hinted at retirement, saying, "I'd like to finish on a high note, as much for my wife as for myself."

It was a great day, too, for the Cardiff City fans, despite their defeat. Their team had not won the cup since 1927, and it never really looked as if it was going to yesterday either, after an error by the goalkeeper gave away the game. But Cardiff are a team from the second tier of football, the Championship, who nearly went out of business this season. Just getting this far was amazing. Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were all knocked out, but Cardiff made the final. So their fans partied anyway, staying to cheer the opposition in a way that blasé supporters of the big sides never do.

"I just hope, after this, the reality of the club carries on," said Paul Williams, a 48-year-old prison officer. "You're getting these big clubs with people coming in with all this money and expecting success straight away. I don't want that to happen to Cardiff. It's a nice, friendly little club. Football is for the fans."

It's hard to run on to the pitch at the posh new Wembley. Fans from both sides had even hugged each other on Wembley Way before the game, euphoric at just being there. The plan was to get to the stadium early to soak up the atmosphere. Most Bluebirds fans had gone by coach, scores of them leaving Cardiff and the valleys many hours earlier to get a head start down the M4. Some of Cardiff City's designated pubs in London were opening at 9am.

Meanwhile, Jane Osterholm had woken early in Portsmouth. She was up by 6.40am. "I was thinking, 'God, how can I get through all this? It's madness.'" She couldn't face breakfast, which had to wait until she had finished the two-hour drive north to Uxbridge station, where she sat in a pub with her wavy foam FA Cup on the table, blue highlights in her hair.

Jane got into Pompey at the age of 18, because the owner of the record shop she worked in got free tickets. "I became addicted to it. I loved the atmosphere; I loved the whole game. My husband died of cancer in 1998, and I used to go with him. Then I started going with a friend."
Yesterday they joined hundreds of Pompey fans making their way on the Tube to Wembley Park, the giant white-painted steel arch over the stadium just visible against the steel-grey sky. That did nothing for the butterflies. "It's nerve-racking," Jane admitted. "It feels like I'm going to be playing myself – it's that bad. It's just a day of memories that will last the rest of my life."
With Portsmouth taking the lead in the first half, the rest of the game was an agony of tension and prayer that they could hang on to it. When the whistle blew, she was remarkably calm. "I'll probably have a couple of drinks tonight. We'll be back here at Wembley for the Charity Shield and we're in Europe now. It's a dream come true."

For Paul, defeat was painful, but not bitter. "I couldn't have wanted any more," he said. "I've had a day out with my dad at Wembley. And good luck to Portsmouth.
"There were just good supporters having a good time. Now everyone's mingling, and they're having a good laugh."

Winners or losers, that was true for most of the 90,000 fans inside the stadium. Football got its soul back at this year's FA Cup final, by coming home: back to the people.


http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/17/portsmouth.cardiffcity1?gusrc=rss&feed=sport
Cup glory and Europe caps season for us Pompey fans to remember
I never expected to see them play at Wembley in my lifetime, and now I've been twice in one season. Next stop Europe

This article was first published on guardian.co.uk on Saturday May 17 2008. It was last updated at 18:18 on May 17 2008.
I was trying to convince myself before the game that it really wouldn't matter so much if Pompey lost - certainly not as much as losing an important league game. It might have made David James cry (again) at Wembley, and it would have brought tears to the eyes of some of our younger fans, too. If you have followed Pompey for more than 40 years, though, when it comes to the FA Cup final, it really is the taking part that counts.

I never expected to see Pompey play at Wembley in my lifetime, and now I've been twice in one season. And we won at Old Trafford. And we had lots of players in the England team. And I even saw a Ghana fan wearing a Pompey shirt at the African Cup of Nations in January. Imagine that. Why let a single defeat spoil it all?

Newport County, Scarborough, Exeter, Cambridge United, Oxford and Aldershot (at least until next season) are all non-league clubs now, and I have stood on the away end at all of them. When you have seen your team lose 3-0 in a downpour at Chesterfield, 4-0 at Colchester, 4-0 at Brighton, 4-1 at Tranmere, 3-1 in the snow at Carlisle (own goal, 89 minutes) the very fact that you are at Wembley at all is enough to see you through to the post-match party at the Wembley Tandoori. It's just great to be here ...

But then I started thinking about Bulgaria. If Pompey can't beat Cardiff, we won't be in the Uefa Cup. Our venture into European football might never happen. We might be back at Chesterfield in a few years. We MUST win. And we did, deservedly and, compared to last year's drudge, it was a decent game.

Why Bulgaria? I was robbed in 1970, that's why. I remember coming in one morning after my paper round (I delivered Jimmy Dickinson's Daily Express, thank you very much - and no Pompey player has ever been held in higher regard) and seeing a competition in the Daily Mirror. I fancied my chances back then, 13-year-old football expert (yes, just like Kanu I fiddled my age to get a job), good at writing those pithy one-liners that could make or break a winning entry - "I brush with Colgate every day because ..." - and I really fancied the prize. An all-expenses paid away trip with any English team playing in Europe that season. I'm not sure my parents would have let me go, especially as I had never been farther than Blackpool, but I entered, and opted for Trakia Plovdiv v Coventry as my prize.

Imagine my astonishment a while later when the postman delivered a letter franked by the Daily Mirror. I had won. A runners-up prize. Goodbye, Bulgaria, here's a Rothman's Football Yearbook, 1970-71.

Trakia have changed their name and won't be there next season but I'll settle for Sofia. Sounds better than Scarborough. What a truly amazing season. And what a way to finish it. Think I'll celebrate with a bottle of Bulgarian red.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/18/facup.portsmouth

Duncan Castles at Wembley, The Observer, Sunday May 18 2008
This article appeared in the Observer on Sunday May 18 2008 on p2 of the News & features section. It was last updated at 00:15 on May 18 2008.

The Pompey Chimes rang out as the FA Cup was liberated from the big boys and returned to an old South Coast home. Seven years the grand old trophy spent at Fratton Park as football waited out the Second World War, 69 summers have a handful of veteran Portsmouth bell-bashers longed to win the thing for a second time.

They, and all their younger brethren, can be proud not just of victory, but the manner of it. Portsmouth were marginally the better team in a match that was superior in entertainment to the Chelsea-Manchester United final that preceded it and quite possibly the Champions League final to follow.

Only David James's sustained excellence prevented Cardiff from taking a first-half lead that would have been merited. Sadly, Peter Enckelman's ragged handling allowed Nwankwo Kanu in for the goal that kept the Cup from the Welsh. Having smuggled Doctor Who away from England, grabbing its most famous trophy was perhaps too much to ask.

It is an odd season that concludes with more English (and more Premier League) clubs in the Champions League final than the FA Cup's. It was refreshing, too, that Portsmouth v Cardiff guaranteed a first victory for a team outside the top tier's fearsome foursome since 1995.
Portsmouth arrived at Wembley knocking back reports that this game would be Harry Redknapp's last. Had he thought of quitting? 'Never a time,' he said. 'Not at all.' Booed off at Fratton Park the previous weekend, his team were some way off form - without a point in four matches and a goal in three. Deprived of Cup-tied leading scorer Jermain Defoe, the manager culled Papa Bouba Diop, exchanging the African's height and muscle for Pedro Mendes's more studied presence and pushing Lassana Diarra further forward in the midfield. The formation remained the counter-oriented 4-1-4-1 with which Pompey had achieved their highest Premier League finish. Their Championship opponents were more adventurous, stationing Paul Parry alongside Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

The game began at a pleasing pace, Diarra slipping his marker at kick-off and sprinting forward to earn a free-kick. Sulley Muntari - supported in the stadium by compatriot and best friend Michael Essien - cannoned a long shot off a team-mate to stretch Enckelman.

Cardiff responded in kind. A long diagonal pass allowed the perpetually mobile Parry in behind the back four, drawing James into a scurried clearance the keeper just managed to execute. Better still was Parry's next assault on goal. If it began fortunately when Glenn Loovens' heavy touch fell to Joe Ledley, the left-winger's through ball was divine, releasing the striker for a low shot that James worked wonders to smother. Seconds later Ledley crossed for Peter Whittingham, whose deflected volley eluded keeper and far post.

Offered two clear chances to go ahead, Pompey spurned both. First, Enckelman pawed a Muntari free-kick across his six-yard box to Sylvain Distin, who instead of heading at an empty net tried to tee up the heavily marked Kanu. Next, Hermann Hreidarsson and Muntari combined to play in their solo striker. Gloriously, Kanu glided past one opponent and wrong-footed Enckelman. Gallingly, he planted his shot against a now unguarded post.

The game enticingly stretched, Cardiff threatened from free-kick and corner kick before succumbing to the Premier League side's first sustained period of pressure. The excellent Mendes began the onslaught with a curving 35-yard strike that Enckelman held at the second attempt; John Utaka continued it with a cross the keeper could not control.

The Nigerian's run was excellent, shifting Tony Capaldi from one foot to another to create space. Utaka crossed low and fast, the keeper palming it upwards for Kanu to return deftly beyond him. The striker danced in the goalmouth, the winger simply turned to the crowd to accept the ovation. It was Portsmouth's first goal in more than six hours of football.

Cardiff, though, might have equalised immediately. Parry, running free behind Glen Johnson every time the right-back failed to foul him (which was often), made ground in the area before seeking to set up Kevin McNaughton. The cross was rapid but the Scot should have done better than turn it into touch.

Just before half-time Whittingham again produced havoc with a left-footed free-kick. Buffeted by his own centre-back, James pushed the ball out to Loovens, who athletically hooked it into the net. Painfully for Cardiff, the Dutchman's first touch had been with arm. 'It was handball,' Dave Jones conceded. 'He's just unfortunate he didn't get away with it.'

Ill at ease with his handling, Enckelman spent half the break practising it in front of the Portsmouth support. Requiring no rehearsal of his skills, Whittingham started the half by setting up Roger Johnson's header into the side netting. The relentless Diarra then forged shooting space for Kanu with the aid of a cute Niko Kranjcar back-heel, but Loovens recovered to chest clear.

His team losing the physical battle, Jones added Aaron Ramsey's teenage energy. The midfielder's corner freed Loovens for a header that bounced down and agonisingly over, while Ramsey twice had late shooting chances he could not exploit. David Nugent came closer to the final's second goal, his wide-angled volley almost nestling in the top corner.

Kanu strolled off to a grand ovation, Pompey intoned Redknapp's name, and their manager walked up to become the first from England to receive the Cup since Joe Royle with Everton in 1995. The win was part of an excellent week for owner Alexandre Gaydamak's family, as his father Arkady's side, Beitar Jerusalem, won the Israeli Cup on Tuesday and sealed the league title yesterday.

'It's been a difficult year, but football-wise it's been fantastic,' said Redknapp. 'It was just good today - you have these things in life, you go through tough times. Today was a good day.' Not so much 'Play up, Pompey', more a case of 'Party up, Pompey'.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2008/may/18/facup.portsmouth2
FA Cup final
'Today was about the fans. They won't forget seeing their team win the Cup'
Harry Redknapp said it was a 'dream come true' when Nwankwo Kanu's 37th-minute goal gave Portsmouth a second FA Cup triumph in 69 years and also confirmed entry into the Uefa Cup next season, which will bring European football to Fratton Park for the first time in the club's history.

'It's fantastic for everybody - my family, the players, it's great. It has been a difficult year off the field,' Redknapp said, alluding to the dawn raid on his house last November, which was part of the City of London Police investigation into corruption in football, and the recent death of his sister-in-law Pat, the mother of Chelsea's Frank Lampard.

'My wife kept me going - she keeps me going full stop,' the Portsmouth manager added.
Kanu's strike gave Redknapp the first major trophy of a managerial career that began at Bournemouth in October 1983 before taking in West Ham, a previous spell at Portsmouth and briefly Southampton. Had this been his finest achievement?

'It's a great day, there's glory in winning,' he said. 'But keeping Portsmouth up two years ago is the better achievement, football-wise. Today was all about the fans wasn't it? Seeing their club win the FA Cup - they won't forget it. If you'd told them six years ago they would finish eighth [in the Premier League] and win this trophy they wouldn't have believed it.

'Now, if I can, I'm going to go upstairs to see the family and try to slip away at seven - get my wife in the car and go to a little Italian restaurant around the corner from home, have a lovely bottle of red wine, make sure the two dogs are OK. Then get up in the morning and have a lovely ride on a bus,' Redknapp added of the planned parade around Portsmouth today.

How had he seen the final? 'Cardiff were putting us under pressure, putting balls in the box, they played well, worked hard. When we get in front we're difficult to break down, and the defence were terrific.'

Did Redknapp believe he could take the club any further? 'I don't know, it's about bringing players in - we'll be looking to do that in the summer like everyone else. I've got some very good players already, but I am looking to buy.'

Kanu's winner came after City keeper Peter Enckelman failed to deal with John Utaka's cross. The Cardiff manager, Dave Jones, admitted 'a slight mistake cost us', but said 'there's no blame to be attached. Now, you've got to let us have a little bit of sorrow. Let us wallow in our self-pity a little bit, I've just lost a Cup final.'

Jones also said he was content with his team's effort. 'We gave it everything we've got and done everyone proud. What we have [also] done today is prove that maybe other teams can achieve what they thought was impossible - I think it'll be a long time until the next Championship club makes it to the FA Cup final.

'I saw a stat the other day that said 19 of the last 21 finals has been contested between the top four of the Premier League. Well, the big boys [the rest of the Premier League clubs] will be saying that they can do this as well, and make it to the final.

'Now, we've got to start competing in our own division,' he added. 'We've struggled for two years, no money for the last two years. We've now got a brand-new stadium, fantastic training facilities and if we don't move on from here, we want shooting.'

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/05/17/third_time_lucky_and_its_the_b.html
Third time lucky and it's the best feeling in the world
Winning the FA Cup really is unbelievable, but being denied the chance to take part in post-match celebrations was depressing
David James, May 17, 2008 11:01 PM
How do you feel after winning the FA Cup? I can hardly tell you because I'm still waiting for it to sink in. And who knows how long that will take. It could be tomorrow, next week, or even next month. It's the event I've been waiting for my whole life. The win I've twice missed out on. The winners' medal missing from the set after I won the FA Youth Cup with Watford all those many moons ago. Going up those steps to receive the trophy, feeling the pain in your legs, that's what you start playing football for, that's what you're forever dreaming about as a kid.

Of course you feel awesome, amazing, tremendous, but still there's a part of you that just can't quite believe it. Every year you see the winners being interviewed on telly after the final. Every year they say they can't believe it. Now I know what they mean.

Yesterday morning before the match I woke up early, I just couldn't sleep. It was 7am and my eyes were wide open, nothing I could do about it. In the shower I started my preparation work, visualising catching crosses. I hadn't played all the games I wanted to because of the injury: I had been desperate to play that last League match against Fulham to get match-sharp, but I just couldn't risk it. At the start of the week in my first five-a-side I was all over the place - dropping catches, miskicking and all sorts. Thank God I got that out of the way early doors, there was no room for cobwebs on the big day.

You go into the match knowing all the facts: this is the final, this is it, the big chance, maybe the only chance. And yet you cannot afford to think like that. You have to redirect your brain: this is a game against Cardiff. That's it, simple. What more can you do that you haven't done before?
Despite being talked up as the favourites, the bookies had us at 8-11. Not the cast-iron odds you would expect. On the pitch, Cardiff had opportunities to breach us, but I felt that we were in good control. I knew we had to be careful of Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, I'd seen videos of what he can do, but we contained him - the defensive unit was good and solid. When King [Kanu] hit the post I couldn't believe it, but then he bagged the winner. Poor old Hermann Hreidarsson broke his cheekbone clattering into my head. His family had turned up wearing Arnold Schwarzenegger-style 'Herminator' T-shirts. After that he looked even more like the Terminator.

Still, it was the best we'd played in weeks. At the whistle it hit me. I hadn't dared look at the clock before then, I didn't want to be distracted by the countdown. It's then that you think of the run in. The build up to yesterday's result had been immense. No matter what people might say about scrappy 1-0 wins, there were so many twists and turns en route to the final - own goals, penalty saves, clearances off the line. The whole thing was entertaining, dazzling.

As my team-mates celebrated with the crowd, I felt compelled to run over to the opposition. I hugged Trevor Sinclair and Robbie Fowler, my old muckers. I know what it feels like to collect a loser's medal. That first time, with Liverpool against Manchester United, I was off the pitch and in the changing rooms before they had even lifted the trophy. Finally being on the other side of things, seeing the stadium half-empty, but half-full with all your fans, it is the best feeling in the world. By the corner flag I looked at my team-mates celebrating and I thought: 'Yeah, go on!' But it was strange, too. I felt reserved. Like the older statesman in the corner.

Afterwards I came off the pitch and was sent straight in to the drugs testers. I can't tell you how depressing that is when you know the rest of your team are celebrating in the changing rooms. I sat there for an hour and a half, missed the whole lot. By the time I came out I had missed the team coach and I was emotionally and physically knackered. What can you do? It was a small blemish on an otherwise wonderful day.

The disappointment I've had in losing two Cup finals will never be taken away. This achievement doesn't make it better. Those defeats are things that you cannot rectify and attempting to would only destroy your focus. I'm still trying to make sense of it all. There aren't many players who have won both the FA Youth Cup and the senior trophy - Ryan Giggs is one, which just goes to show what a special achievement it is. It has been a lifetime goal and now I've done it. It's not about getting collecty over medals, it's beyond that, a genuine achievement.

Back at the hotel, all my friends and family were there to celebrate with me. Our other successes this season - in what really has been a proper season for Portsmouth - have always had low key celebrations, a pizza here, a night in with the kids there. But last night I could finally let go with a few beers. Later today we will embark on our trophy parade through Portsmouth. It won't be the first time I've been on an open-top bus with my team, but it is the first time I've felt happy about it. Finally, at the age of 37, my dream has come true.
David James has donated his fee for this column to charity.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/05/17/redknapp_calms_early_nerves_to.html
Redknapp calms early nerves to revel in grand occasion
Portsmouth's traditional manager triumphed on a traditional Cup final day
Paul Wilson, May 17, 2008 10:38 PM
Epic it wasn't, emotional it was. The FA Cup could be making a comeback. It was a privilege to be at Wembley yesterday, in the way that it was not when the new stadium reopened for last season's 'borefest' between Chelsea and Manchester United.

Even before the end of that game texts were coming in from friends watching on television describing it as the most soporific final in history. Those same friends said they would not be watching this one. Not because they feared a repeat of last season, but because they could not see the point if there were no big teams in it.

You can't win, it would seem. The ceremonial end of the English football season has been slowly strangled over the last dozen years by the top four teams usually being too tired or distracted to do it justice, yet when two refreshingly new sides arrive it does not count as a proper Cup final.
Perhaps you needed to be here. There was, for a start, a proper Cup final atmosphere. Both sets of fans were mightily pleased to be at Wembley and raucously determined to make themselves heard. There were two national anthems for a change, both lustily rendered, and though the Welsh fans sounded better that could simply have been because 'Land of My Fathers' knocks spots off the dirge the Pompey end was obliged to sing. The Portsmouth fans were soon into their stride with 'Pompey Chimes'.

Which is more than could be said for their team. Harry Redknapp's players looked the more nervous in the opening minutes as Cardiff nonchalantly took the opportunity to show what they are about. Long throws from Tony Capaldi mostly, but no matter. They soon worked out that Portsmouth were not as commanding and composed at the back as they had been led to expect. David James was the first goalkeeper to make a save, Cardiff won the early corners, Glen Johnson the first player lucky to escape a booking and Redknapp the first manager to appear gesticulating furiously in his technical area.

There was no question of Cardiff being overawed, yet midway through the first half they should have gone behind. Turning defence into attack in the blink of an eye, Nwankwo Kanu did all the hard work in holding off Glenn Loovens and rounding Peter Enckelman in the Cardiff goal only to strike the outside of a post when he still had a reasonable shooting angle.

It was Kanu's goal against West Brom in the semi-final that got Portsmouth here, and though he popped up again to take advantage of Enckelman's mistake to give his side the lead by half time, this time the African and his stupendous medal collection was not the only story. Indeed, it is hard to remember a recent FA Cup final that has thrown up so many good tales. Start with the two managers, the deeply-wronged Dave Jones and the eternally put upon Redknapp. The latter is married to Pat Lampard's sister, so has had recent family grief to cope with. Jones, a proven manager whose Premier League career was interrupted in appalling circumstances, can only look at his Pompey counterpart and believe that anything is still possible. Redknapp himself must have realised this would almost certainly be his last chance.

So, too, would Joe Jordan, the Portsmouth coach, a Wembley winner at last after only ever knowing disappointment with Leeds and Manchester United. Talking of Leeds, Peter Ridsdale's attempt to live a slightly more modest dream ended in disappointment, though he promises the Bluebirds are now solvent, secure and have a great future. The Leeds connection also extended to Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Robbie Fowler, who featured in most of the pre-publicity in his white 1996 Cup final suit, but failed to claim a place on the bench. That defeat to Manchester United 12 years ago is now Fowler's only claim on FA Cup history at Wembley. You never know which Cup final day will be your last, a thought that must have occurred to the unluckily Cup-tied Jermain Defoe as well as most of the Cardiff team.

Was it a great final? Possibly not. It could have done with a bit more drama or perhaps a great goal, but so could most FA Cup finals. Portsmouth had the better players, as people suspected they might, and in the end Cardiff found it increasingly difficult to cope with the control and movement of Kanu, Sulley Muntari, Lassana Diarra and Niko Kranjcar. You cannot have a shock in every round, hard though this season's FA Cup has tried. The nearest thing was David Nugent coming on and almost scoring. Only Enckelman's reactions prevented the Portsmouth substitute adding an FA Cup final goal to his CV, to sit next to that spawny one he scored for England in Barcelona last year.

All the same, it would have taken a heart of stone not to share Redknapp's joy as the Pompey fans sang his name before the end or when his players got their hands on the famous trophy. You could not tell anyone from the south coast it wasn't a great day, and one that may never be repeated. This competition still means a lot to most people, even if the Champions League has robbed it of stature. And, pleasing to report, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Wembley's acoustics. Last year's rather muted atmosphere must have been entirely due to two sets of fans being too spoilt to sing.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/05/17/enckelman_error_ensures_the_un.html
Enckelman error ensures the underdog doesn't have its day
Cardiff's limitations in attack meant Portsmouth had little need to tear at their opponents after Kanu grabbed the only goal of the FA Cup final
Stuart James, May 17, 2008 5:24 PM
It was never going to be an epic although it would be churlish to criticise Cardiff City and Portsmouth for failing to turn the FA Cup final into the season's most memorable match given that bigger clubs and greater players have struggled to do so in the past.

This was the first time since 1991, when Tottenham Hotspur defeated Nottingham Forest in extra-time, after Des Walker headed through his own net, that two clubs outside the so-called top four had reached the FA Cup final. There have been great memories to cherish for the supporters of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool in the years that have followed but few neutrals would have celebrated their dominance.

There is an innate desire to see an underdog granted their moment in the limelight, particularly as the finals involving the Premier League's elite have, on far too many occasions, failed to live up to the hype. Never more so was that evident than 12 months ago when Manchester United and Chelsea, whose squads are replete with talented and gifted individuals, served up the one of the most banal and humdrum finals in recent memory.

There was no need to fear more of the same here. Against Premier League opposition, Cardiff could have been forgiven for packing the midfield and adopting a cautious gameplan but, much to the Championship side's credit, they sought to unsettle rather than contain Portsmouth. There might easily have been reward for those tactics before the interval but Glenn Loovens was adjudged to have handled with David James exposed.

How Peter Enckelman would have welcomed a similar reprieve at the opposite end. The Finn earned notoriety during his time as Aston Villa goalkeeper following a couple of high-profile clangers against Birmingham City and the mistake he made in the 37th minute after John Utaka whipped a dangerous ball into the six-yard box will do little to change the opinions of those who claim he is a player who cracks under pressure. Cue a few more clips added to YouTube tonight.
No one was more grateful that Kanu to be presented with a gift. Earlier in the first half the Nigerian had endured his own moment of embarrassment, the former Arsenal striker leaving Loovens on the seat of his pants and sashaying around Enckelman only to inexplicably sidefoot against the post with the goal gaping. It can only be imagined that the expression on Harry Redknapp's face was similar to the one last year when a policeman knocked at his Sandbanks home at around 6am.

The Portsmouth manager was entitled to look concerned for periods here. Cardiff were far from dominating but there was enough purpose and intent about Dave Jones's side to cause consternation in an experienced Portsmouth defence. Joe Ledley was often the source of the angst, the Cardiff midfielder discomforting Portsmouth with his sinuous runs and fine passing. Cardiff fans must have departed lamenting how that industry and guile would have benefited from a more penetrative forward line.

Jimmy-Floyd Hasselbaink never looked like troubling Sylvain Distin and Sol Campbell and, while the same could not be said for Paul Parry, the former Hereford striker was unable to make the most of promising positions when he stretched the Portsmouth rearguard. With such limitations in attack, Portsmouth had little need to tear at their opponents, with Enckelman's 37th-minute faux pas enabling the Premier League team to protect their favourite scoreline. Small wonder the engraver started his work before the end of the match.


http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/portsmouth/article3953999.ece
May 18, 2008
Harry Redknapp will carry on
It must be tempting to walk away after this triumph, but Harry Redknapp will carry on
Andrew Longmore
Not even Harry Redknapp could put a price on the joy which was unleashed at Wembley stadium yesterday. It poured down from the Portsmouth fans and lifted this cosmopolitan team assembled with Redknapp’s guile and the hard cash of owner Sasha Gaydamak all the way up the steps to the royal box.

One by one, the Portsmouth team raised the Cup in salute, led by Sol Campbell and David James, the twin pillars of the South Coast revival, until, at the end of the line in a near perfect piece of choreography, Redknapp took hold of the trophy. All along the row he went as his players vacated the scene, savouring every moment because 25 years in management is a long time without a trophy. But it is rare indeed that a manager steals the limelight quite so blatantly.
The measure of Redknapp’s enduring popularity is that nobody in the game, not even beyond the Severn Bridge, would begrudge the ultimate football man a sweet twilight, nor his wish of a quiet evening back in Bournemouth with his missus and a bottle of Italian red.

Whether he will do the sensible thing and, having lifted Portsmouth to eighth in the Premier League and to its first cup in 69 years, decide there is nothing more for the game to offer him is highly unlikely. The attraction of walking the dog along the seashore at Sandbanks, one of the most exclusive estates in the country, can surely not match the lure of pressing onward with a club now built in his image.

Redknapp will know that standing on the pitch at Wembley holding the FA Cup in partnership with the club’s owner are freeze frames in a career. Redknapp’s own history at Portsmouth would show how fragile football can be. Only last week a few jeers echoed round Fratton Park after a fourth successive defeat. All that was forgotten at the final whistle yesterday.

Throughout the week, Redknapp had said winning the Cup was the priority, not bringing European football to Fratton Park for the first time in the old stadium’s history. Nor would it have been foremost in the mind of the manager, as he hugged each of his players during the protracted celebrations.

He has performed a few tricks in his career, which started at Bournemouth, but in twice transforming the fortunes of a club almost permanently down on its luck since the heady days of the 1940s, Redknapp has shown a magician’s touch. In luring players of the calibre of Campbell, James and yesterday’s hero, Kanu, to the blue revolution, he has done for the minnows in the Premier League what Wimble-don did for the league a few decades ago.

If Portsmouth can break the stranglehold of the Big Four on such a stage and, as David Jones, the impressive Cardiff manager also pointed out, if Cardiff can reach Wembley, how many Premier League chairmen will be asking when their turn is going to come. Redknapp’s image has been set in stone for years, cemented by the sharp tongue and quick wit and, more darkly, by his arrest in November as part of an ongoing City of London police investigation into corruption in football. Redknapp has lived with the allegations since November and has protested his innocence so vehemently he is taking out a case of his own against the police.

The case, though, has hung over his head throughout a Cup run which began to attract real belief in an unlikely victory at Old Trafford in the quarter-fi-nals. A series of 1-0 wins – and just one goal conceded in 720 minutes of Cup football - has also forced outsiders to rethink their view of Redknapp’s footballing vision. This is a deeply pragmatic Portsmouth side, built on the virtues of impregnability not invention, on size not speed.

Yet Redknapp has played his hand with the assurance of a poker player, not being drawn into an assault on Cardiff just because the occasion demanded it and Portsmouth were, for once, the favourites. One up front and five across the mid-field, with the livewire Lassana Diarra pushing up in support of Kanu and Sulley Muntari breaking ahead of Nico Kranjcar on the left. The formation has served Portsmouth well in the league, so why not the Cup? Once Kanu had repeated his semi-final tap-in - the combined distance all of four yards - Cardiff were always banging their heads against a statistical wall. Just ask Ipswich, Preston, Man-chester United and West Bromwich Albion, who all failed to score.

But there was significance in the finale too, a memento to the big club fans who take such occasions for granted. “It was great,” said Redknapp. “The Cardiff fans stayed on at the end, which was fantastic. I came last year and the stadium was half empty at the end, I find that strange. It was a glory day, a day that both us and Cardiff won’t forget.”

Redknapp, an emotional man, seemed strangely subdued in the press conference, as if there was nothing more left to give. He would be wise to walk away, but proper football men rarely see the future so clearly. Redknapp has a Cup to his name and that’s all that matters, for the moment.

Harry’s year
Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp’s traumatic season finally ends on a high
Nov 28: arrested as part of inquiry into alleged football corruption and later admits the matter has ended his chances of the England job
Jan 13: turns down approach to become manager of Newcastle
April 16: announces he is taking proceedings against the City of London Police over his arrest in November
May 17: wins FA Cup

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/article3953264.ece
May 18, 2008
Kanu's goal clinches FA Cup for Portsmouth
Joe Lovejoy at Wembley
They called it the fans’ final but in reality the FA Cup belongs to Harry Redknapp, who has spent 25 years in management waiting for a moment like this, and to Portsmouth, who have been waiting since 1939. The only goal was a scruffy one, gifted to Nwankwo Kanu, but their legions of fans cared not a jot for that as the famous “Pompey Chimes” rang round Wembley and all the way back to the south coast.

For Cardiff there were only tears at the end of a marvellous run and some tiny consolation in the fact that they played football that was a credit to the Championship. For most of the match, they were the equal of their more celebrated opponents and they can take heart from the infinite promise shown by two young stars of the future, Joe Ledley and Aaron Ramsey. If they can keep them, promotion beckons next season. Unfortunately, the likelihood is that their financial predicament will dictate that one or both is sold. They will be no lack of Premier League takers after this.

Sadly for the individual concerned, the outcome was determined by one mistake by Peter Enckelman, the Cardiff goalkeeper. The position has been a problem for the Welsh club all season and never more so than after 37 minutes here when Enckelman palmed a cross from John Utaka straight to Kanu, who scored from two yards. Cardiff contributed to their first final since 1927 in handsome measure and would have had an equaliser at the end of the first half but for the gimlet eye of the referee, Mike Dean, who spotted that Glenn Loovens, the Dutch centre-half, had handled the ball before beating David James with a shot reminiscent of Ledley’s against Middlesbrough in the sixth round.

Ramsey’s precocious second-half cameo, when he came on in place of Peter Whittingham, was one of the highlights, his intelligent movement and clever passing a delight, but the day belonged to Portsmouth and how they loved it. Typically, after embracing his assistant Tony Adams at the final whistle, Redknapp’s first thought was for his opposite number, Dave Jones, to whom he offered both commiserations and congratulations for a thoroughly creditable performance.

Neville Chamberlain was still in appeasement mode the last time either of these teams got to the final but, contrary to the snobs’ view, it was a breath of fresh air to have a break from the endless familiarity of the Big Four. For the neutral observer, the hope had to be that Cardiff would rise to the occasion more competitively than the last Championship side to get to the final. Dennis Wise’s Millwall were not only poor but woefully unambitious in losing 3-0 to Manchester United four years ago. To universal relief, Cardiff were much better. Their progress has bordered on the fairytale, the club having been perilously close to insolvency and administration in mid-season. Their expectations were so limited that there was no provision for getting to Wembley in the bonus system agreed by the players.

Portsmouth retained their tried-and-trusted 4-5-1 formation, with Kanu preferred to Milan Baros as the lone striker. If there was a surprise in their lineup, it was the selection of Pedro Mendes in place of the man mountain that is Papa Bouba Diop in midfield. Cardiff were at full strength, which meant no place – even on the bench – for Robbie Fowler, fit again after five months out with a hip injury. Their formation was marginally more adventurous, with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink playing just behind Paul Parry and supported by Ledley on the left flank.
Cardiff have a reputation for playing good, constructive football and lived up to it from the start. They were encouraged by their success in fashioning the first chance, when Ledley’s through-pass played in Parry, who was halted in the act of shooting by James’s well-timed advance from his line. Pompey should have scored midway through the first half when Kanu, supplied by Sulley Muntari’s cross, turned with characteristic dexterity to evade Loovens then took the ball past Enckelman, only to shoot against the goalkeeper’s right-hand post from barely three yards. Within five minutes, Cardiff had a decent chance of their own, when Roger Johnson, who scored a memorable headed goal in the sixth-round victory at Boro, nodded over from Tony Capaldi’s free kick.

The goal took the form of a self-inflicted wound. Utaka’s right-wing cross was a good one but Enckelman should have dealt with it without great difficulty. Instead, he spilled the ball at the feet of Kanu, who gratefully knocked it into the unguarded net with Johnson looking at his maladroit goalkeeper in despair. Cardiff hit back immediately but Parry’s cross from the left asked too much of the incoming Kevin McNaughton at the far post.

They had the ball in the net as the first half went into its second minute of stoppage time after a handling error by James, which will not have gone unnoticed by Fabio Capello who was in attendance. Fortunately for James, and Portsmouth, the referee had spotted Loovens’s handball before he shot past the England goalkeeper.

The force was with Portsmouth after their goal, and in attempting to remedy that situation Jones introduced Ramsey in place of Whittingham with two-thirds of the match played. Redknapp in turn sent on David Nugent, who made his fast-diminishing reputation against Championship opposition. Within a minute of getting on, the striker quirkily capped by England tested Enckelman’s dodgy hands with a rasping drive, repelled with something that looked suspiciously like alarm.

Conceding had sapped Cardiff’s belief but they pressed forward in increasingly urgent pursuit of equality and threatened to regain it with 15 minutes left when Loovens met Ramsey’s corner with a firm, downward header that bounced over James’s crossbar. Young Ramsey had some delightful moments and Roger Johnson had a shot blocked right at the death but the cup was Portsmouth’s and they knew it, so much so that Redknapp sent on Milan Baros in place of Kanu – a classic case of counting headless chickens.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3953286.ece
From Times Online, May 17, 2008
Dream comes true as Portsmouth lift Cup

Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, described his side's FA Cup final victory over Cardiff as a "dream come true".

Kanu was Pompey's match-winner, capitalising on the loose ball after Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman had fumbled a John Utaka cross.

The victory gave Portsmouth their first FA Cup success since 1939 and booked them a place in next season's UEFA Cup.

"Cardiff were putting us under pressure, putting balls in the box, they played well and worked hard. When we get in front we're difficult to break down and the defence were terrific."

Wearing a cap with 'King' written across it, match-winner Kanu," said: "They call me king. I have to deliver and hopefully I did. I have to thank God - God made it possible for me to score.
"This is the best moment of my life. I started the game and I won the cup for Portsmouth. I have felt nothing like this."

Kanu, who hit the post with an earlier chance, added: "I kept going, I kept my head down and I scored. "You have to take your chance and that's what I did.

"Portsmouth is not one of the four big clubs, no-one could believe we were going to do it and we did it."

The Nigerian now hopes to stay on with the Fratton Park club.

"I hope the fans, Harry, everyone at the club will remember this day and they are going to give me a contract," he said.

David James, the Portsmouth goalkeeper, felt his side were worthy winners.

"It was another hard game, a bit scrappy again but we deserved to win," he said.

"The lads held tight, we've only conceded one goal in the whole competition and we've been good."

Asked about his manager Redknapp, James said: "Harry's a legend now isn't he? Hats off, well done Harry."

"We worked hard, we had our luck through the rounds, but in the end the result was good. Cardiff played good football, they had good chances but I think the quality came through in the end."

Dave Jones, the Cardiff manager, reflected on the error by Enckelman that proved so costly.
"A slight mistake cost us, we gave it everything we've got and we've done everyone proud," he said. "What we have done today is prove that maybe other teams can achieve what they thought was impossible.

"I'm very proud of my players, my staff, the chairman, and especially (the fans). They have been magnificent and I'm just sad we couldn't see it through to the death for them.

"There wasn't a great deal in it, there's no-one to blame, but it's hard to swallow."

Asked whether the run to the final should be a springboard for the club to now mount a challenge for promotion to the Premier League, Jones said: "It has to be. We've struggled for two years, no money for the last two years.

"We've now got a brand-new stadium, fantastic training facilities and if we don't move on from here, we want shooting."

Enckelman was disappointed not to have prevented Kanu's goal.

"It was it is a tough one to deal with," he said. "It just started dropping down and I should maybe have done better, but it is one of those things.

"The defence could maybe have cleared it, I thought I might try to catch it. It just dropped over."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article3956585.ece
May 18, 2008
FA Cup player ratings
Joe Lovejoy
PORTSMOUTH
David James 6/10
Got away with a couple of errors, which will not have impressed the watching Fabio Capello. Did well early on to deny Paul Parry
Glen Johnson 6/10
Had his problems at times with Joe Ledley, but came through capably and continues to look England’s best right-back
Sol Campbell 7/10
Solid as ever in probably his last match before moving to Spain. His best days may be behind him, but he will take some replacing
Sylvain Distin 7/10
Always comfortable and untroubled at the back, and took the opportunuity to break forward on a Beckenbauer-style run
Hermann Hreidarsson 6/10
Booked and never at ease against nimble, clever runners, but can take credit for seeing off Peter Whittingham
John Utaka 7/10
Always dangerous on the right fl ank, and delivered a sumptuous cross which led to Kanu’s goal after Enckelman fumbled
Pedro Mendes 6/10
Promoted at the expense of Papa Bouba Diop because of his greater attacking potential, but never a signifi cant threat
Lassana Diarra 8/10
Portsmouth’s most effective midfi elder all season, and again a big infl uence, whether driving forward or harrying Cardiff
Sulley Muntari 7/10
Made some incisive runs, but form has tailed off and he failed to assert himself against the disciplined Cardiff midfield
Niko Kranjcar 6/10
A key player all season, but not here. Strangely subdued for a midfi elder blessed with so much natural ability
Nwankwo Kanu 7/10
Scored the goal, but it was a gifted tap-in, and he spurned an earlier inviting chance when he shot against a post
Substitutes David Nugent for Utaka (69), Papa Bouba Diop for Mendes (78), Milan Baros for Kanu (87) Not used: Ashdown, Pamarot
CARDIFF CITY
Peter Enckelman 4/10
The poor man will never forget the handling error which presented Kanu with the winner. Cat-on-a-hot-tin-roof performance
Kevin McNaughton 6/10
Played for Scotland in his Aberdeen days but never trained on. Likes to get forward, but defensively suspect
Roger Johnson 7/10
Cardiff’s player of the season, and earned it. Quick, aggressive, ball-playing centre-half who could play in the Premier League
Glenn Loovens 7/10
What a goal that would have been, but for the handball. Tough Dutch centre-half who represents good value at £300,000
Tony Capaldi 6/10
Workmanlike contribution at left-back, but will blame himself for failing to cut out Utaka’s cross for the Portsmouth goal
Peter Whittingham 6/10
Has had a good season in midfield, but failed to reproduce the form that caught the eye in the defeat of Middlesbrough
Gavin Rae 6/10
Midfield grafter who has played for Rangers and Scotland. A bustling continuity player whose input is valued by his teammates
Stephen McPhail 6/10
The great dictator at the heart of Cardiff’s passing game. Has played at top level, in his Leeds days, and could do it again
Joe Ledley 7/10
The sweetest left foot in the Championship? Not for much longer, with Everton fi rst in the queue. Lovely passer
Paul Parry 6/10
Converted from left winger to centre-forward and top scorer this season. Denied byJames early on and was peripheral
JF Hasselbaink 6/10
Past his best at 36. Now playing off, rather than as, the main striker. Never looked like adding to his seven goals this season
Substitutes
Aaron Ramsey for Whittingham (61), Steve Thompson for Hasselbaink (71), Trevor Sinclair for Rae (87) Not used: Oakes, Purse
ROUTE TO THE FINAL
PORTSMOUTH 3rd round v Ipswich (A) 1-0 4th round v Plymouth (H) 2-1 5th round v Preston (A) 1-0 6th round v Man Utd (A) 1-0 Semifi nal v West Brom (Wembley) 1-0
CARDIFF 3rd round v Chasetown (A) 3-1 4th round v Hereford (A) 2-1 5th round v Wolves (H) 2-0 6th round v Middlesbrough (A) 2-0 Semifi nal v Barnsley (Wembley) 1-0
FA CUP RECORD
Portsmouth Winners 1939, 2008
Cardiff Winners 1927
Dave Jones and Harry Redknapp were the first English managers of both finalists since Terry Venables and Brian Clough led Tottenham and Nottingham Forest, respectively, in 1991, with Redknapp the first winning English manager since Everton’s Joe Royle in 1995
Portsmouth have won all 21 games this season in which they scored first