Kanu is crowned king of Portsmouth by African contingent

(GETTY)

After his golden goal to win the FA Cup for Portsmouth, there was Nwankwo Kanu's silver tongue. "He knows what I can do and says, 'King, go out and do your stuff, do your magic, you're the best'," the striker claimed when asked what manager Harry Redknapp's pre-match words of encouragement had been.

'King' is the nickname Kanu has earned from his Portsmouth team-mates. It started with the African players – John Utaka and Sulley Muntari (who bought Kanu a baseball cap after scoring the winning goal in the semi-final with 'King' inscribed on it which he wore after the final whistle on Saturday) but has spread throughout the squad.

Now the King is hoping to capitalise on his moment. Having earned himself a one-year contract extension, automatically triggered as he has played more than 25 times for Portsmouth this season, the striker who turns 32 in August, wants to turn that into a three-year deal and end his career at Fratton Park.

It is unlikely he will be granted such a contract, which may spark interest from other clubs, but no-one can blame him for his opportunism – the same opportunism he showed in making amends for earlier striking a post by hooking the ball into the net after a blunder by Cardiff goalkeeper Peter Enckelman.

The goal gained Portsmouth the trophy and later Redknapp confirmed the club's growing importance in Africa – Kanu is one of five players from the continent on their books – with plans for a pre-season friendly in Lagos against Manchester United.

"We're going to Nigeria in pre-season," Redknapp said. "I haven't told the lads that yet, by the way. They might have lost the FA Cup if I'd told them that. That's a pleasant surprise for them all. We're going to play Man United over there. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for us. So we will play them before the Charity Shield [sic]."

With United basing themselves in South Africa for pre-season – they play three games between 19 and 26 July – the Portsmouth match has been pencilled in to take place in a refurbished stadium soon after. However given that the two clubs will then meet again in the Community Shield on 10 August the organisers are nervous that the fixture will now be pulled.

That would be a shame for Kanu, in particular. He is feted in his homeland and across Africa and would be able to use the game to help publicise his Kanu Football Foundation which he is launching – as revealed by The Independent last week – to help young African footballers. Kanu already has a heart foundation, established after his own heart problems, which pays for life-saving operations for children and a charity match to raise funds for that organisation will take place at Fratton Park today. One of those due to feature is John Mensah, the Ghanaian defender who plays for Rennes and who is one of Redknapp's transfer targets.

Winning the FA Cup for a third time – Kanu lifted it twice with Arsenal, although he played a mere nine minutes as a substitute for Thierry Henry against Chelsea in 2002 and never got off the bench against Southampton a year later – will help bolster his charity aims as well as his career.

"A lot of people always ask questions about me, but I keep coming out with the answers," Kanu, who may not have played had Jermain Defoe not been Cup-tied, said in reference to those who felt his career was at an end when he left Arsenal in 2004 and struggled for two seasons at West Bromwich Albion before joining Portsmouth. "This is talent," he said. "I have to work hard, but the talent is there. I didn't disappoint myself, I didn't disappoint anybody.

"It means a lot as it's been more than 50 years since Portsmouth won a trophy, which is a long time. For us to win the FA Cup is a great achievement. When you play at Portsmouth nobody expects you to win a trophy. In the semi-final I don't know what happened, but I was the hero and it's happened again."

The goal, Kanu said, was a relief – having been told by his three-year-old son, Sean, that he would score. "When I scored the goal you could see I was dancing because I remembered what he said to me," Kanu said.