Cardiff City

0-1

Portsmouth

 

 

Kanu 37

The FA Cup sponsored by E.ON
The Final
3pm, Saturday 17 May 2008
Wembley Stadium
Winning clubs will receive £1,000,000 from The FA



Pedro Mendes believes winning The FA Cup has taken Portsmouth to the next level and now they are already dreaming of playing in Europe.
 
Pompey's 1-0 victory over Cardiff not only won them the Cup but also saw them qualify for next year's UEFA Cup - a massive step for a club that was facing relegation when manager Harry Redknapp first returned there three years ago.
 
"This was the next step for us and to win The FA Cup and get into Europe is fantastic," said Mendes.
 
"The fans deserve it because they have been amazing all year and it was the same again today - you wouldn't expect anything less from them in an FA Cup Final. It's a great day for the club and it's taken us to the next level.
 
"Harry is a great manager. He's the man that has put it all together and it's great for him and for the club and for everyone. Now we are in Europe and we think about that next."
 
Portsmouth were strong favourites to win The Final against Championship side Cardiff City but were made to fight all the way by Dave Jones' men.
 
Mendes, who was oustanding in Portsmouth's midfield, said: "We were focused on the game, not on being favourites. That wasn't a problem for us. And I thought we did well."
 
Portsmouth and England goalkeeper David James was also delighted with the win, his first FA Cup Final victory after two previous appearances with Liverpool and Aston Villa.
 
"To win the trophy was tremendous and it's capped off a fantastic season<" he said. 

"It's been top drawer. It was a bit anxious towards the end but I thought we deserved to win.
 
"We kept Cardiff out and the defence we've had this season has been superb. We have broken the club record of 23 clean sheets. We all do our bit and it's culminated in winning The FA Cup. It's been superb."

Teams

Cardiff City
1 Peter Enckelman, 2 Kevin McNaughton, 3 Tony Capaldi, 4 Gavin Rae (18 Trevor Sinclair 87), 6 Glenn Loovens, 7 Peter Whittingham (30 Aaron Ramsey 62), 10 Stephen McPhail, 11 Paul Parry, 12 Roger Johnson, 16 Joe Ledley, 36 Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (20 Steven Thompson 71)

Subs
13 Michael Oakes, 5 Darren Purse

Portsmouth
1 David James, 5 Glen Johnson, 6 Lassana Diarra, 7 Hermann Hreidarsson, 11 Sulley Muntari, 15 Sylvain Distin, 17 John Utaka (10 David Nugent 69), 19 Niko Kranjcar, 23 Sol Campbell, 27 Nwankwo Kanu (9 Milan Baros 87), 30 Pedro Mendes (8 Papa Boupa Diop 78)

Substitutes Not Used
21 Jamie Ashdown, 16 Noe Pamarot

Attendance: 89,874

Match Officials
Referee: Mike Dean (Cheshire FA)
Assistant Referees: Trevor Massey (Manchester FA) & Martin Yerby (Kent FA)
Fourth Official: Chris Foy (Liverpool FA)