Barnsley to face Cardiff in FA Cup semifinals
LONDON: Barnsley's reward for knocking holders Chelsea and Liverpool out of the FA Cup is a semifinal against fellow Championship (second division) side Cardiff City.
Monday's draw also pitted Portsmouth, the only Premier League side left in the competition, against Championship high-flyers West Bromwich Albion.
It is the first time since 1908 that only one team from the top flight reached the semifinals, which will both be played at Wembley Stadium over the weekend of April 5-6.
Barnsley beat Chelsea 1-0 on Saturday, hours after Portsmouth had stunned Manchester United by the same score at Old Trafford, its first victory there for 51 years.
Cardiff, the only Welsh club to win the Cup in 1927, continued a weekend of upsets by eliminating Premier League Middlesbrough on Sunday.
After more than a decade of domination of the FA Cup by the so-called "big four" in England, this year's competition has been gloriously unpredictable.
Should Portsmouth lose its first FA Cup semifinal since 1992 it would guarantee the first final between clubs outside the top flight since English league football began in 1888-89.
The last time a final did not involve either Manchester United, Liverpool, Arsenal or Chelsea was in 1991 when Tottenham Hotspur beat Nottingham Forest.
There is also the distinct possibility of the first winners from outside the top division since West Ham United beat Arsenal in the 1980 final.
Barnsley's run to the semis has been the most spectacular. The Yorkshire club beat Liverpool 2-1 at Anfield in the fifth round and then saw off Chelsea thanks to a winner from Nigerian striker Kayode Odejayi.
It will be playing in its first semifinal since the year the Titanic sank in 1912, going on to beat West Bromwich Albion in the final after a replay.
"It's going to be a fantastic occasion," Barnsley manager Simon Davey told Sky Sports. "There's light at the end of the tunnel for both teams, Cardiff and ourselves.
"We fancy our chances and we're just 90 minutes away from an FA Cup final."
Harry Redknapp's UEFA Cup chasing Portsmouth is now the favorite, although it will be wary of facing West Brom, a club with a fine FA Cup pedigree.
"Obviously we are favorites as we're the only Premier league side left," Redknapp told the club's website (www.portsmouthfc.co.uk).
"But results at the weekend show that counts for nothing. West Brom are a good side who play good football and they'll be tough opposition for us."
West Brom, who beat Bristol Rovers 5-1 in the only quarterfinal tie to go to form, has contested the showpiece 10 times, winning the trophy five times, the last time in 1968.
Portsmouth has been in the final three times, but not since 1939 when it beat Wolverhampton Wanderers.
Agencies
(China Daily 03/12/2008 page22)
