AXA F.A. Youth Cup (in association with The Times) - Final First Leg Everton V Aston Villa, Goodison Park, Kick-off 8.05

World Cup rolls around, you might just get a sneak preview this evening.

Tonight, the finest crop of England's new generation do battle as Everton take on Aston Villa in the first leg of the F.A. Youth Cup Final. Both teams have enjoyed an excellent run to this stage and will be looking to crown their seasons with glory in the most prestigious competition in youth football.

Aston Villa coach Tony McAndrew applauded his team for reaching this stage, saying: "They've done the club proud this season. For such young boys they have a real maturity and some of the football they've played has been excellent. We've played some good sides and had some cracking games."

Villa's attack will be spearheaded by the Moore brothers, Stefan and Luke. Stefan is an England Under-19 international, while his younger brother Luke has been one of the stars of the England Under-16 set-up this season.

He has stunning pace and is a clinical finisher so expect him to convert any chances he gets tonight in style.

Meanwhile, at the other end, Everton have something of a sharp shooter of their own. The last game Everton's Wayne Rooney played was for England's Under-17 side as they secured 3rd place in the UEFA European Championships. That day he left no-one in any doubt as to his class and current form, scoring a hat-trick to leave him with a total of 5 goals for the tournament in total.

Now back in this country, Wayne will be hoping to carry on for Everton where he left off for England and he is eagerly anticipating a game that he has described as the biggest of his highly promising career.

The powerful number nine said: "I think we deserved to get here and hopefully we can get the result everyone wants. It is going to be a tough game, but if we can get a lead at Goodison and take that to Villa we are capable of winning it."

F.A. Youth Cup Info Pack:

The F.A. Youth Challenge Cup competition, inaugurated in 1952, has now reached the milestone of its 50th season. So it is fitting that this season’s Final should feature two clubs with a great Youth Cup pedigree.

Everton, the home side in tonight’s first leg (kick-off 8.05 p.m, live on Sky Sports), have lifted the trophy three times, and Aston Villa, who will host the second leg on Saturday (kick-off 12 noon), have twice been winners of the competition. Everton won in 1965 against Arsenal, in 1984 against Stoke City and in 1998 against Blackburn Rovers. The team that beat Rovers 5-3 included Francis Jeffers and Danny Cadamarteri. Villa won in 1972 v Liverpool and in 1980 v Manchester City.

Over the years the Youth Cup has been dominated by the youth teams of the professional clubs, as one would expect, and the competition has proved to be a showcase for the burgeoning talents of players like George Best, Paul Gascoigne and Ryan Giggs. Youth Cup Finals have often caught the imagination of the public, with crowds of more than 30,000 watching each of the two legs of the 1993 Final between Leeds United and Manchester United and a full house at Upton Park being treated to a brilliant display by West Ham United (Joe Cole, Michael Carrick etc.) as they won the Cup three years ago.

No fewer than 337 clubs had their entries accepted for this season's AXA F.A. Youth Cup, the competition having started with ties in the First Qualifying Round last August.

England Under-21 boss David Platt knows how valuable the competition is in terms of producing international players of the future. Of tonight's match, he told TheFA.com: "There's no better breeding ground for new talent and I look forward to preparing some of the current 16-18 year olds for an England U21 cap within a year or two".