SOCCER/ FA CUP FINAL Chelsea v Portsmouth:FRANK LAMPARD insists Chelsea must ruin relegated Portsmouth's hopes of a fairytale end to their dismal season with a ruthless performance which would secure the Blues a place in the history books. Victory over Avram Grant's Portsmouth side in the FA Cup final at Wembley today would see Chelsea become only the seventh side in the history of the game to achieve the coveted domestic double.
Chelsea were crowned champions of the Premier League last Sunday and it could get even better for Carlo Ancelotti and his side if they can overcome a Portsmouth side that has defied the odds to reach the final.
Pompey’s financial problems forced the club to enter administration and they now face life in the Championship next season after their relegation, but a surprise win over Tottenham in the semi-finals has given former Chelsea manager Grant the chance to pull off one of the biggest cup final shocks in history.
The scenario is not lost on the focused mind of Lampard, who knows any complacency could wreck their double dream and send Chelsea’s England contingent off to the World Cup in a deeply depressed mood. “We don’t want it to be a fairytale that goes all the way for Portsmouth, we have to be ruthless how we approach the game,” said Lampard. “To win the league was a huge thing for us last week. We got that job done but we knew the season wasn’t over.
“We saw Portsmouth against Tottenham in the semi-final and we’ve seen them have a very spirited end to the season, even with the difficult circumstances.
“What better way to go to the World Cup than having done the double? It’s very exciting for all the players here who are going to the World Cup, regardless of their country. But I would hate to go there having missed out on the double. Mentally if I went away and we’d lost that would be the freshest thing in the mind and it would be horrible.
“We are determined to finish the job and it won’t be as easy as some people have made out. I also have a lot of sympathy with Portsmouth. I think they’ve handled themselves very well, particularly Avram Grant, who we know really well and have a lot of respect for.
“He’s handled himself brilliantly and everyone has seen that. It’s not been easy circumstances and everyone has taken to them a bit this year – in very adverse circumstances they have held their heads high and managed to get to Wembley. But the double is huge and has never been done in our history. We really want to do it. I grew up always knowing the big teams that had done the double in the ’70s and ’80s, so if we do it, it will go down as the best year in the club’s history.”
Lampard’s England colleague, left-back Ashley Cole, is bidding to become the first player to win the trophy six times. Cole’s first FA Cup final victory came with Arsenal against Chelsea in 2002 before retaining the trophy against Southampton the following year and then scoring in the 2005 penalty shoot-out win over Manchester United.
He then moved to Chelsea and was part of the team that defeated Manchester United in the first final at the new Wembley. Last season he won his fifth final and moved into the record books as Chelsea defeated Everton 2-1. Now he is on the brink of making it six final successes and Lampard believes the defender deserves all the plaudits.
“It is an amazing achievement and to win it that many times would set him out as the most successful FA Cup player ever and he deserves that,” added Lampard.
