FA Cup Semi-final Draw

The four balls yielded the following semi-final pairings:

Blackburn vs. Chelsea or Tottenham
and
Watford vs. Middlesbrough or Manchester United

To be played on the 14th/15th of April.

An obvious reaction from a Spurs fan is, of course - thank God we didn't get Manchester United at this stage! That is of course highly disrespectful to Middlesbrough, the team which Man U after all will have to beat in order to make it. It is also, of course, assuming that Tottenham will be able to beat Chelsea on Monday - a Chelsea which by that time will most likely have John Terry, and with him organisation, back. I would love an FA-cup final between Tottenham and Middlesbrough, by no means an impossibility. But the immediate thought here, for anyone who isn't an optimistic Spurs fan, is that it might very well end up being a final between Chelsea and Manchester United. So, Carling Cup final between Chelsea and Arsenal and FA-cup final between the reigning champions and the new champions? A bit dull, and sorely lacking in amusing upsets.

Then again, this is football, anything can happen and there is time yet - Blackburn against Watford in the final? From a Spurs point of view it is an indication of the refound form of the team rather than the tradition of the team that inspires the feeling that Blackburn in the final would be more of an upset than Spurs. Blackburn did, after all, beat Arsenal - something Spurs have yet been unable to do this season. But the team found its feet again and stayed in the cup; the first game of the current happy spell being the comprehensive FA-cup beating of Fulham - a team which previously in the season had been a stumbling block.

The spring sun shines on our hopes and nothing seems impossible.