This weekend the FA Cup will hope to provide the city of Cardiff with a final on May 12th which has a potential worthy of a historic football occasion.
Certainly two teams can emerge from tomorrow's semi-finals capable of producing a memorable match to mark the first final played outside England in the competition's 129 years.
The most obvious possibility for the Millennium stadium is a final between Arsenal and Liverpool which would bring back memories of 1950 when the teams met on a filthy afternoon at Wembley and a goal in each half from Reg Lewis took the Cup to Highbury, not to mention Arsenal's 2-1 win in 1971 to clinch the "double".
The likeliest alternative would see Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur meeting in an FA Cup final for the first time. The remotest prospect is of Wycombe Wanderers getting to the final at all, yet they are managed by an FA Cup winner, Lawrie Sanchez, who has personally cocked a snook at pundits' forecasts in the past.
It is highly unlikely, of course, but 13 years ago Wembley blinked in disbelief when Sanchez met a free-kick from Dennis Wise with a looping header past Liverpool's Bruce Grobbelaar to win the Cup for Wimbledon. And if Liverpool, whose priorities lie in Champions League qualification, are not fully "up" for the occasion, then the unlikely could happen.
No doubt Gerard Houllier will continue to rotate his team with one eye on Tuesday's visit to Ipswich, which probably means a start for Robbie Fowler tomorrow with Michael Owen on the bench. More crucial for Liverpool will be the improbability of Steven Gerrard being able to play three big games in six days. If it comes to a choice, the midfielder will surely be saved for Portman Road.
Tomorrow's earlier semi-final between Arsenal and Spurs has acquired considerably more interest following the decision of Enic, Tottenham's new owners, to sack George Graham, the manager who brought this very ordinary team to the last four, and appoint Glenn Hoddle in his place.
Hoddle is, without doubt, a proven organiser of teams for big matches. He proved this when his England side forced a scoreless draw with Italy in Rome to reach the 1998 World Cup. Graham, however, is a proven winner. His record at Arsenal is evidence of that and the way Tottenham beat West Ham to reach the semi-finals showed he had not lost the touch.
Hoddle's managerial mentor, Arsene Wenger, may be in charge of the opposition tomorrow but it is from Graham's book that the new Tottenham manager will need to take a leaf if he wants to lead the team out in Cardiff on May 12th.
In other words Tottenham will need to stifle Arsenal's midfield as successfully as they bottled up Frank Lampard, Michael Carrick and Joe Cole at Upton Park.
Patrick Vieira and Ray Parlour will surely be harder to contain and, if Sol Campbell is not fit, Tottenham's defence will be no better equipped to deal with the pace of Thierry Henry than it was at Highbury last Saturday. At least Sergei Rebrov will be back to support Les Ferdinand up front.
In FA Cup semi-finals anything can happen but it still looks like a French bench connection between Wenger and Houllier in the Millennium stadium.
