Blackburn Rovers

1-2

Chelsea

Roberts 63

Lampard 16, Ballack 109


4pm, Sunday 15 April 2007
The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
Semi-Finals
Live on Sky Sports
Winning clubs will receive £900,000 from The FA





Jose Mourinho praised the spirit shown by Mark Hughes' Blackburn Rovers in their thrilling Semi-Final at Old Trafford, before adding that he believes England to be a 'special country'.

It took a dramatic extra time winner from Michael Ballack to earn Chelsea their place in The FA Cup Final alongside Manchester United, and Mourinho said that the game was fitting of a Final.

"This Semi-Final could be a Final the way it was played, if this was the Final everybody would be proud of it," Mourinho explained. 

"The game was incredible propaganda for English football. This kind of game in mid-April is unbelievable and what people do in this country is unbelievable."

"This is a special country. In many countries the players need one week holiday after a game like this, and I think in this country the challenge is massive every day and the players become mentally very strong because of that."

While the Stamford Bridge boss was confident that his players would triumph in extra time, he was concerned that with Blackburn's momentum they might not reach that stage.

Mourinho said: "When they scored the goal and I saw the game going to the end I was afraid. Extra time did not frighten me, I was very confident because that is 30 minutes to play, but when I saw the game reaching 85 minutes if they score then the game is probably over. And they had a chance to do it with Pederson at the far post.

"But my players are heroes, after Valencia, to play another 120 minutes is incredible."

Mourinho is now looking forward to the prospect of duelling with Manchester United for both The FA Cup and Premier League honours, while he hopes it will become a triple battle with the Champions League final in Athens on 23 May.

"I wouldn’t be sad to play United three times before the end of the season," Mourinho said. "At a charity dinner for Sir Alex in November, he was telling me the Champions League would be an English final and I believed him. It would the cherry on the cake.

"Chelsea and United can win all the trophies, share the trophies or win nothing. People will qualify our success in relation to the trophies we win, but the reality is that what Manchester United and Chelsea are doing is unbelievable."