Football: Coca-Cola Cup Final - Gascoigne's presence lends final fizz

LUCKY old Football League. A few months ago their flagship cup competition seemed destined to follow terracing, lace-up footballs and knickerbocker shorts into the history books. Uefa, the governing body of European football, had taken away the reward of a cup place and leading Premiership teams were fielding near-reserve sides as a result and talking of winding up the competition altogether.

Yet tomorrow, as a result of hard political bargaining by the League's leaders, and sheer good fortune, the Coca-Cola Cup final will attract more attention than for several years.

The prime reason is, of course, Paul Gascoigne. Will he play, and will he this time leave Wembley in style rather than on a stretcher? But there are other intriguing questions. Will Gianluca Vialli lift a trophy just a one month into management? Or will Middlesbrough, in their third successive final, finally gain their first major honour after 122 years of trying.

A European bow also beckons. Win and Boro get a Uefa Cup place by right. Lose and they can still qualify if Chelsea win the European Cup-Winners' Cup as the Londoners would be defending that next season.

The one thing we can be relatively sure of is that it will be a better match than the FA Cup final between the two sides. Then Chelsea went ahead when Roberto Di Matteo scored after just 43 seconds and their victory, confirmed through a second-half Eddie Newton goal, was far more comfortable than the 2-0 scoreline suggested.

Few would have predicted that the same two teams would not only return for the next Wembley final, but that Bryan Robson would be the surviving manager. His Middlesbrough side may now may now be in the Nationwide League but they are a far more competitive side than last May when they were low on bodies and confidence.

Though they have lost Juninho, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Emerson, Boro now have a better-balanced squad. Last May Bryan Robson had to play Ravanelli at Wembley though he was not fit but now, even with four players including Alun Armstrong cup-tied, the Boro manager's problem is the enviable one of who to leave out. He has used 24 players in the competition and now has Hamilton Ricard and Gascoigne also available.

Gascoigne is likely to start on the bench, but the Colombian may partner Marco Branca in attack. With Robbie Mustoe recovered from back trouble Gianluca Festa is likely to play at the back if he passes a test on his calf strain. The biggest relief is Mark Schwarzer's recovery from a thigh strain, the only other eligible goalkeeper being Peter Shilton, now 48 years old.

"Last season the lads were just happy to get to Wembley," said Robson, "but this time there is a much different approach. They want to win and believe they can, they are more confident of their own ability."

Gianluca Vialli has a similar selection difficulty to Robson with the added dimension of his own position to be considered. "All I am interested in is seeing Chelsea win the cup," he said, "whether I'm on the bench or involved in the game. I still care about myself as a player but now I am manager and my decision will be entirely about what is best for the team. I will lead the team out but I'm not saying whether I will be in a suit or my football strip."

The latter is more probable as Vialli, who was given a token two minutes by Ruud Gullit in May, is likely to at least be on the bench. One suspects he will play with himself, Zola and either Mark Hughes or Tore Andre Flo in attack though this runs the risk of leaving the midfield light in numbers. An alternative is to play Eddie Newton in midfield to pick up Paul Merson, newly recalled by England and a childhood Chelsea fan. The real problem area is at the back where Chelsea will inevitably have moments of indecision even if Graeme Le Saux recovers from his ankle injury. If Merson or Gascoigne can take advantage Branca could upstage his better-known compatriots.

Vialli may be fortunate to have replaced Gullit with Chelsea only one match from Wembley but that game, the 3-1 semi-final, second-leg, win over Arsenal at Stamford Bridge, has been their only convincing win in the competition. Of the previous four ties they had drawn two and lost one, twice going through on penalties and once in extra time. They have also had a constantly changing side, in those four matches Gullit used 26 different players.

Boro have won six of their seven ties but form will count for little. As with most games involving Chelsea the result will probably be settled by their own performance. If they play to potential they will win, but if not Boro are very capable of punishing them. The destiny of the 38th Coca-Cola Cup thus hangs on Vialli's nascent tactical and motivational ability.

Chelsea v Middlesbrough

PROBABLE TEAMS

Player-manager: Gianluca Vialli

Ed

De Goey

Frank Sinclair

Michael

Duberry

Franck Lebeouf

Graeme Le Saux

or Steve Clarke

Dan Petrescu

Dennis

Wise

Roberto

Di Matteo

Gianluca Vialli

Mark Hughes

Gianfranco

Zola

Manager: Bryan Robson

Mark

Schwarzer

Craig

Harrison

Nigel Pearson

Gianluca Festa

or Steve Vickers

Curtis Fleming

Neil

Maddison

Andy

Townsend

Robbie

Mustoe

Hamilton

Ricard

Paul

Merson

Marco

Branca

Coca-Cola Cup final at Wembley (Kick-off 3pm tomorrow)