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Portsmouth manager Avram Grant hailed his side's triumph over adversity after they upset the odds to beat Tottenham 2-0 in Sunday's FA Cup semi-final.Two extra-time goals saw Pompey advance to a final with Chelsea a day after their Premier League relegation following a season of financial misery.
Grant said: "This is a great achievement after what's happened.
"We have been living on a day-to-day basis and despite this we have reached the final."
Pompey's place in the Championship was confirmed after West Ham's 1-0 victory over Sunderland on Saturday left the league's bottom side 17 points from safety with only 15 points to play for.
Their relegation had been expected following their nine-point deduction as punishment for going into administration in February.
But even before the points penalty it had looked likely that Grant's side would be battling the drop and they had gone into this semi-final as rank outsiders.
However, the debt-ridden south-coast club produced a spirited and gritty display to stun 'Big Four' pretenders Spurs in one of the most memorable shocks in the competition's last four in recent years.
"I cannot even describe what I feel," said Grant, who replaced the sacked Paul Hart at Fratton Park in February.
"This achievement is more than football - to be in the final, it's unbelievable."
Harry Redknapp's Spurs, with former Pompey heroes Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe in their starting line-up, had edged an uninspiring 90 minutes, but the London side had no answer to Portsmouth's two extra-time goals.
Spurs defender Michael Dawson lost his footing as he went to make a clearance and Frederic Piquionne pounced to beat Heurelho Gomes from eight yards to send Pompey on their way to a shock decider against double-chasing Cup holders Chelsea.
Three minutes from time, Wilson Palacios hauled down Aruna Dindane and former Tottenham flop Kevin-Prince Boateng rifled home the penalty to seal his side's passage.
"Even if we had come with our strongest squad, Tottenham are still probably better than us," reflected Grant, who was without the cup-tied Jamie O'Hara, as well as the injured Tal Ben Haim, Danny Webber and Hermann Hreidarsson.
"With tactics you can do things against teams that play very good football.
"We didn't even have one defender on the bench. They did a great job, they scored two goals, what more can I ask?"
Israeli Grant, meanwhile, was reluctant to assess his side's chances of producing another major shock in the 15 May final against his former club.
"In football, anything can happen but let's celebrate and then we will think about the final."This article is from the BBC News website. ? British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.