Pires took his hat-trick with a fantastic, instinctive right-foot chip over Jones from 30 yards following a slip by Paul Telfer. It was a pearl of a goal and completed the scoring.But, as much as the goals, there was the showboating, with Henry dropping deeper and deeper to run with the ball and, at will, shoot, often unopposed, from distance. It was remarkable therapy.Southampton had little choice but to attack and after James Beattie had come on as substitute he had three strikes at goal to offer hope. Afterwards, Strachan said: “A strange feeling came over me 10 minutes before the end that we can win the Cup. We will not win it by standing off and watching Arsenal play.

I will pick the team with the biggest hearts.”Now that Arsenal have repaired theirs, it should be some contest.Arsenal (4-4-2): Taylor 5; Tour?, Luzhny 5 (Tavlaridis, 76), Stepanovs 2, Garry 6; Pennant 8 (Hoyte, 90), Parlour 7, Van Bronckhorst 7, Pires 8 (Bergkamp 6, 62); Henry 9, Kanu 8. Substitutes not used: Warmuz (gk), Wiltord.Southampton (4-4-2): Jones 4; Telfer 3, Williams 2, M Svensson 3, Higginbotham 3; Fernandes 3 (Baird 3, 27), Prutton 3, A Svensson 2 (Oakley 5, 56), Bridge 4; K Davies 2 (Beattie, 76), Tessem 4. Substitutes not used: A Davies (gk), Ormerod.Referee: U Rennie (South Yorkshire).. In times like these it is almost impossible to come across sports programmes on television and radio that do not dwell on the present at the expense of the past. Earlier this week, for example, an ITV presenter wound up reflections on events in the Premiership season with a rhetorical question. “Has there ever been a 17-year-old like Wayne Rooney?”

In times like these it is almost impossible to come across sports programmes on television and radio that do not dwell on the present at the expense of the past. But to propose that football has never before seen such a precocious talent is not only in ignorance of history but typical of exaggerated judgements formed across the broad spectrum of sports coverage.

Everything, it seems, has to be a celebration of now.The remark about Rooney had no sooner been cast on the airwaves than a number of names crossed my mind, none more illustrious than Pele, the greatest player in history, who was roughly Rooney’s age when he turned out for Brazil in the 1958 World Cup final, and a year younger on his debut for Santos.The new picture that replaces the old fails to accommodate Stanley Matthews who began his marvellous career as a 17-year-old with Stoke City, the age at which John Charles came to the fore with Leeds United. George Best was an exciting presence for Manchester United at 17, Denis Law only 16 on his league debut for Huddersfield. Diego Maradona was only 15 when he first turned out for Argentinos Juniors. Duncan Edwards turned out in the First Division for Manchester United when six months short of his 17th birthday.