FA Cup Final: A Tale of Two Teams

It was the best of times (for Chelsea), it was the worst of times (for Portsmouth)...at least that's the storyline ahead of the 129th version of England's FA Cup Final, which features two clubs with extremely different fortunes. Chelsea, fresh off an 8-0 beatdown of Wigan that saw them claim the Premier League title, is back on top of English football and seemingly awash with cash from Russion billionaire Roman Abramovich. Portsmouth, meanwhile, has been relegated from the Premier League and faces uncertainty over the future in terms of finances, ownership, coaching staff and players. On paper, then, the final of the world's oldest knockout competition should be a stroll for Chelsea as they look to do the League/Cup double, but they don't play the match on paper (nor do they play it on dirt, despite what you see in the background of this picture of the FA Cup trophy taken at Wembley Stadium last April. There's grass there now, at least until they have to rip it up and plant it again.) Can Portsmouth pull off one last surprise this season? Will Chelsea's contingent of players headed to this summer's World Cup be content with the Premier League title and take a lax approach? England's Guardian newspaper has some great pre-match previews from both sides here:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/football

The match kicks off at 10am EST and can be seen on Fox Soccer Channel here in the States. If you're in the Richmond area, head down to Penny Lane Pub to catch the match in a great atmosphere, and have a pint and an English breakfast as well. Enjoy the game.