and striker Dean Ashton both doubts to be fit for the match. However, manager Alan Pardew was optimistic they would be available for selection stating: "You expect everyone to put their life on the line for the final." Pardew was also optimistic about his team's chances in the final, despite them being considered as the underdogs: We're up against a technical team who are better than us, Liverpool have got more experience and more international players, too. But everyone also knows that we attack teams and that we've got a big punch." The match was originally scheduled to be played on 20 May. However, England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson wanted a four-week break before the start of the 2006 FIFA World Cup, so that if any England players were involved (Liverpool's Steven Gerrard, Jamie Carragher and Peter Crouch all later made his squad) would get a decent rest before the tournament. The final was scheduled to be held at Wembley Stadium, however the stadium had fallen behind in its rebuild and would not be completed in time for the final. The final would instead be played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, where it had been held since 2001. Mike Dean was originally appointed to referee the final, but questions about his impartiality were raised as he resided close to Liverpool. He was replaced by Alan Wiley. In the week before the Final, a block of 1,600 tickets in the Liverpool supporters' seating area was stolen in the postal system. The stadium authorities refused to reissue the tickets on crowd safety grounds, and threatened to eject anyone found sitting in the block from the stadium and possibly prosecute them for receiving stolen goods. Liverpool F.C. arranged for most of the affected fans to receive tickets from an allocation that had been held back for a lottery among their supporters. The day after the final, South Wales Police seized 100 stolen tickets. Three people were arrested after 15 forged tickets were found ahead of the match. Match Pre-match Michael Ball sang the national anthem, "God Save the Queen", on the pitch before the game, with Lesley Garrett singing the traditional cup final hymn, "Abide with Me". Before the match, both teams received a boost as Ashton and Etherington for West Ham and Alonso for Liverpool were deemed fit enough to start the final. First half West Ham kicked the match off, as