The Carling Cup has over the years been known by many names. It went through a phase of being regarded by many managers as the ginger stepchild of the footballing calendar; an annoying inconvenience that had to be tolerated, couldn't be avoided, but was best given as little attention as possible.
Lately however, it has blossomed. Maybe the ginger stepchild could grow up to be a Paul Scholes, a Boris Becker or an Isla Fisher (all ranga kids once of course, and look at what they achieved). Some cracking ties, a healthy dose of fresh faces eager to impress at the big clubs sprinkled with upsets aplenty from lower division teams ready to pounce on Premier League complacency.
For fans of Cardiff City, to whom cup success is of course no stranger, having reached the FA Cup final of 2008 only to be denied by Tax Dodging scummy bunch of Cheats FC, the quarter final win over Blackburn surely provided the highlight of this season so far.
The fun had by the Bluebirds fans on Tuesday night is nothing however to the carnage that, as I type, is presumably* being unleashed in Manchester City Centre. Crystal Palace, conquerors of my own Saints in the previous round, went up to Old Trafford far more in hope than expectation. Alex Ferguson made 10 changes to his weekend line-up, as is his wont and as most Premier League managers do in this competition - but was still fielding a team with experience and quality throughout.
Palace took full advantage of the absence of the likes of Nemanja Vidic, Wayne Rooney, Nani McPhee, Ashley Young, Little Pea and (wow, United are lacking in stars these days) other first team regulars. A 2-1 win after extra time is by all accounts no more than the Selhurst Park outfit deserved. Having initially taken the lead through a Darren Ambrose wonder goal (he does love the cameras, Ambrose, always one for the big games: let's see him do it on a wet Tuesday in Stoke etc etc) but then been pegged back through a Macheda penalty, Palace deserve immense credit for this result.
The semi final draw, which I imagine will be welcomed by neutrals, then gave further reason to be cheerful for the fans of the two remaining Championship clubs. Liverpool's reward for putting more misery onto the young shoulders of AVB is to try and stop the Man City juggernaut, no easy task given that City have arguably the strongest squad in world football. What the City Liverpool tie does mean of course (and those sharper ones of you might just have deduced this, crafty Sherlocks that you are) is the other tie drawn out the hat is Palace Cardiff.
One Championship team will be going to the final, meaning potentially a first trip to the new Wembley for Palace, and potentially a European spot for either team regardless of the final outcome. For me this is precisely the beauty of cup competition and I'll be rooting for whichever of the two underdogs makes it through. Carling may have preferred a semi final line up of Chelsea, United, City and (ahem) Blackburn but for most of us, the combination of underdogs and big guns is what cup football is all about.
Carlsberg don't do football tournaments, but if they did, they could do a lot worse than the Carling Cup
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* I say presumably...there is no presume about it. Half my old football team travelled up to Manchester for the game: a ragtag bunch of die hard Palace supporters, those with a soft spot for the Eagles, or simply those who enjoy a bit of carnage. Through some exclamation mark riddled text messages from the other side of the world this morning, I could sense a certain level of excitement. It's going to be one hell of a night, if you're in the Manchester area on Wednesday morning and you see a tall fellow on crutches, talk quietly around him, he's probably got a sore head. Although you'll not know it from the smile that will still be on his face...
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