Rudyard Kipling's twin impostors, triumph and disaster, are often quoted in a sporting context. In an arena where hyperbole can dominate, most experience neither.
In this, Portsmouth provide the exception. A club capable of veering between two extremes in as many days. Relegated from the Premier League by West Ham's win over Sunderland on Saturday, they reached the FA Cup final by overcoming Tottenham on Sunday.
Portsmouth are, in many ways, the story of the season. An indictment of the overspending and lax laws on ownership in English football, they provide a warning and a morality tale. Yet they also offer an example of football at its best: of a side rallying in adversity to produce an improbable result for a club where few of the players have a future; of wealthy footballers funding the continued employment of members of staff that the administrator had originally fired; of a team justifying the support fans have supplied in a season full of more downs than ups.
The Championship beckons for them. So do Chelsea, in the FA Cup final. Europe does not, however: they were not allowed to apply for the relevant licence from Uefa because they are in administration. That remains the crux of the issue: it brought the nine-point penalty that, according to Avram Grant, the manager, is the prime cause of demotion.
Sunday's 2-0 win over Spurs contained a surfeit of sub plots: a goal from Kevin-Prince Boateng, rarely granted a chance in his time at White Hart Lane; a defence including another who made a negligible contribution for Spurs, Ricardo Rocha, halting the contingent of Pompey old boys, Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch and Niko Kranjcar; and Portsmouth's revenge on Harry Redknapp, their most successful manager in half a century, but one who walked out on the club, twice.
The return to Wembley for the final on May 15 is significant as well as symbolic. David James has pinpointed Pompey's FA Cup win in 2008 as the beginning of the end for a club living beyond its means. It incurred charges to players and other clubs alike just as owner Alexandre Gaydamak's funds were drying up.
Portsmouth had postponed payments until the future. Then the future arrived with a vengeance and, more relevantly, a phalanx of debt collectors. Owing £85 million (Dh481m), theirs has been a hand-to-mouth existence as the quest to find a fifth owner of the season has gone on.
Stripped of many of their greater assets on the pitch, the hastily-assembled side has emerged with huge credit. Losing teams invariably suggest their performances merit better results: in Portsmouth's case, it is probably true. Had they been able to retain the services of finishers such as Crouch and Defoe during a fire sale which lasted for 18 months, they might have avoided demotion, even with the nine-point penalty.
That is hypothetical. What is beyond doubt is that Grant has displayed his prowess. The Israeli is either among those who have often been paid late or he has not been paid at all. His seemingly downbeat demeanour has appeared well suited to the mood surrounding Fratton Park. But he has shown himself to be a talented tactician and produced a team with a spirit that more stable clubs can only envy.
And in a year when "pay up Pompey" has been heard as often as "play up Pompey", it means that a harrowing season should end with the focus firmly on the football pitch. Amid the upheaval, Portsmouth could yet produce the most unlikely triumph of recent times.
sports@thenational.ae
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TRAP
Starring: Josh Hartnett, Saleka Shyamalan, Ariel Donaghue
Director: M Night Shyamalan
Rating: 3/5
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2020 Oscars winners: in numbers
- Parasite – 4
- 1917– 3
- Ford v Ferrari – 2
- Joker – 2
- Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood – 2
- American Factory – 1
- Bombshell – 1
- Hair Love – 1
- Jojo Rabbit – 1
- Judy – 1
- Little Women – 1
- Learning to Skateboard in a Warzone (If You're a Girl) – 1
- Marriage Story – 1
- Rocketman – 1
- The Neighbors' Window – 1
- Toy Story 4 – 1
The Word for Woman is Wilderness
Abi Andrews, Serpent’s Tail
Abu Dhabi Equestrian Club race card
5pm: Abu Dhabi Fillies Classic (PA) Prestige; Dh110,000; 1,400m
5.30pm: Abu Dhabi Colts Classic (PA) Prestige; Dh110,000; 1,400m
6pm: Maiden (PA); Dh80,000; 1,600m
6.30pm: Abu Dhabi Championship (PA) Listed; Dh180,000; 1,600m
7pm: Wathba Stallions Cup (PA) Handicap; Dh70,000; 2,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (PA); Dh100,000; 2,400m
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Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
Tonight's Chat on The National
Tonight's Chat is a series of online conversations on The National. The series features a diverse range of celebrities, politicians and business leaders from around the Arab world.
Tonight’s Chat host Ricardo Karam is a renowned author and broadcaster with a decades-long career in TV. He has previously interviewed Bill Gates, Carlos Ghosn, Andre Agassi and the late Zaha Hadid, among others. Karam is also the founder of Takreem.
Intellectually curious and thought-provoking, Tonight’s Chat moves the conversation forward.
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MATCH INFO
Liverpool 0
Stoke City 0
Man of the Match: Erik Pieters (Stoke)
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now