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Portsmouth high-roller Distin is out to leave his marque on Wembley
Last updated at 11:56am on 17.05.08Even for a legendary wheeler dealer like Portsmouth manager Harry Redknapp, getting his hands on a free Rolls-Royce must represent one of his best pieces of business.
Sylvain Distin's ability to glide across a football pitch, rarely missing a beat, earned the French defender the comparison with the famous marque from former boss Stuart Pearce at Manchester City.
Wary of the underdogs: Distin won the league cup in France with second division club Gueugnon
Little wonder then that eyebrows were raised when a player of Distin's pedigree opted last summer to strut his stuff at ramshackle Fratton Park, a clapped out Ford Cortina of a ground, rather than Anfield or St James' Park.
Redknapp was first in the queue when it became clear he would not be signing a new deal with Manchester City, and his impeccable sense of timing saw him head off late interest from Liverpool and prevent Distin returning to Newcastle.
Surely stopping Distin opting for a 'big club' must have tested Redknapp's powers of persuasion? Not so, according to the player.
'When people talk about big clubs, they are talking about the history of the clubs,' he said. 'But for me a big club is where the club is right now, not 20 years ago.
'I played for Newcastle and I didn't win anything, I played for City and I didn't win anything either. At Portsmouth I'm going to play in a final for the first time in my career in England, so for me that's the most important thing, not too much what happened in the past.
'I remember when I signed here some people didn't say too much, but I could see in their eyes: “Why Portsmouth?” They have the answer today.'
Not that Distin, 30, is taking victory for granted against Cardiff at Wembley tomorrow, having been part of a giant-killing side in France. He said: 'I won the league cup in France with Gueugnon, who were a second division club at the time, against PSG, who were a top-four club. It was a bit like Cardiff against Portsmouth or Manchester United. The secret? There are no secrets.
'You have to perform and it has to be a good day for everybody. A bit of everything, a bit of luck, we had good footballers — we had all these things. We believed, that was the most important thing.
'You'll have to hope Cardiff don't have that spirit but I know they will. It's also going to be an opportunity for them to prove everybody wrong because everybody thinks we are going to win.
'And, obviously, if we lose everybody will be happy because they believe it is good for football if a small side wins. For me they are not a small side and it's going to be a tough game.'
But should Portsmouth manage to win the FA Cup for the first time in 69 years, Distin intends to savour the moment more than he did when at Gueugnon.
'It was such a shock,' he said. 'It's only now that I realise that I really didn't celebrate a lot. You go out, you have your family and friends and the next day you read about it and you forget about it. I feel like we should have enjoyed it a bit more, because it's special and it doesn't happen too often.'
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