IT may not be the most fashionable football final to grace Cardiff's Millennium Stadium but it could prove the most exciting, as well as posing a tantalising glimpse into England's international future.

A Bolton v Middlesbrough duel in the final of the Carling Cup would hardly have induced many pundits into a frenzied rush into the nation's betting offices before the first ball was kicked in the current 2003-04 campaign. Even if the present superpowers of Arsenal and Manchester United increasingly treat the competition as an intrusion, few would have predicted the protagonists in the Carling Cup climax to have been from anything but the present top eight Premiership clubs.

That's not to 'dis' the merits of either Bolton or Middlesbrough. As the top strata of the game hurtles wildly in the vortex of its own hype - there's even a premier division of Arsenal, Manchester United and Chelsea within the Premiership - neither the Trotters nor their Boro counterparts are cloaked by glamour.

Yet their confrontation has more than a hue of exotic colour to hold respective rival fans - neutrals too - in thrall.

The Bolton ranks boast no less than one of Africa's greatest exports in Jay-Jay Okocha, a powerful talent who has enough tricks in his locker to host his own showboating slot on Sky Sports' Soccer AM show, and World Cup winner Youri Djorkaeff. His glittering club career has encompassed distinguished spells in France, Italy and Germany before re-routing his silken skills to Lancashire.

Both play-dictators spearhead a posse of foreign talent assembled at the Reebok Stadium by manager Sam Allardyce.

Deepest Teesside too can call on the services of a World Cup victor in the jaunty-booted Juninho. The Brazilian maestro has enjoyed a new lease of life since being deployed in a far more advanced role than his customary midfield patrol in what is his third stop-over in the North-East. There must be something in that Teesside air to lure the diminutive dreadnought back from less nitheringly withering climes.

Boro's flair division is not confined solely to samba feet. Manager Steve McClaren, a man of York no less, has dabbled cannily in the transfer market this term to attract a brace of Continental crackshots in Gaizka Mendieta and Boudewijn Zenden. Each may be saddled with first names more suited to the Scrabble board, but their on-field contribution has spelt greater midfield potency for the Tees outfit.

Unlike clashes between mega-powers, where caution is too often the watchword, the duel between Bolton and Middlesbrough has the potential for a classic and could underscore a sub-text with potential ramifications for England's status as a world power.

In the event of a Cardiff cracker, the profiles of managers Allardyce and McClaren will be raised, which could be no bad thing when assessing just who might be available to fill the boots of Sven-Goran Eriksson when his tenure as England national coach is up.

At present there are not enough candidates to fill a copse, let alone a celebrity jungle. Of the few possibilities, Messrs Allardyce and McClaren must be among the forefront of FA thinking, not least for the astute stewardship of their respective clubs.

McClaren has, of course, had experience with the full national side as an erstwhile assistant to Eriksson as well as being number two to Manchester United supremo Sir Alex Ferguson before taking charge of Middlesbrough. He would surely come under FA scrutiny.

But what about the possibility of Sam the man heading the national team? Allardyce has not only transported Bolton's mesh of imports and home-grown talent out of the menace of perennial top-flight relegation struggle, he has also displayed a mould-breaking daring to try something new.

It's barely a whisper to go from a Sven to a Sam as the new people's choice.

Updated: 08:53 Tuesday, February 24, 2004