Farewell, FA Cup

After beating Arsenal in the last round, and beating all other Premier League teams (what a luck in drawing lots, meeting no one but Premier League companions and not even one Champion League team), I thought we were bound to win today's game against Portsmouth, especially since we're playing home.

And yet we lost. Instead of feeling upset, it felt more like an awkward funny mess.

We played quite well. And yet we had no luck. Not even a drop of it. The ball hit the post more than once. When Carrick made it to the penalty box, the ball even touched the goal line, but didn't cross it. That's how close we got to scoring a goal. Not to mention we deserved a few penalties that were not granted.

How did we lose? At 78', just as we were preparing to face extra time, Kuszczak made a deadly mistake. He accidentally tripped Baros with his arms as he dived down before him to save the danger. He was given a red card, sent off immediately, and Portsmouth won themselves a penalty. Ferdinand was pushed to take his place between the post, and could not make it to save the penalty. And so Portsmouth won 1-0.

And so we did not make it to the semi-finals. I guess we're out of chance of recreating that fantastic achievement we made in 1999, winning all three trophies. But we still got the UEFA Cup and the Premier League to go.

Well, some say we would have had more luck if Fergie had let O'Shea play. Somehow I feel like agreeing with that!