Watching the FA Cup has become a tradition, and in Australia tuning into SBS is part of that tradition but, Saturday night it felt as enjoyable as spending Christmas with Scrooge.
Craig Foster’s disparaging comments about Stoke City at half time were completely over the top and showed his lack of understanding of the history of the FA Cup. For those of you who were wise enough to get up and make a cup of coffee or visit the smallest room in the house, you made a great decision.
He claimed that Stoke were a dreadful side and that they did not deserve to be in the Final and that he was surprised they were there.
The great thing about the FA Cup is that as it is who is the best team on the day that makes it through each round. That is why unfashionable teams such as Cardiff City, Portsmouth, Stoke City, Millwall and Sunderland have battled their way to the final, and they have all deserved to be there.
The fact that only 55 teams have made it to an FA Cup final in 140 years of competition shows how special it is to make it to a final. To put that achievement down is not fair on the club and their fans.
Any football fan will accept that Manchester City were the better side in the first half, but as anyone knows when the score is 0-0 you always have a chance to win it, and Stoke against the run of play almost sneaked a goal. As much as we would all like to see the beautiful game played every week, it is an unrealistic expectation, and it doesn’t make the game less exciting.
It was disappointing to see a station that has done so much for football be so negative.
