'Beautiful' cup of hope gives Ramos a positive outlook

SOCCER:JUANDE RAMOS savoured a "beautiful" victory over Chelsea in the League Cup final at Wembley yesterday, which arrived courtesy of Jonathan Woodgate's extra-time winner, and said it represented a psychological breakthrough for his club.

The Spaniard, who took over the managerial reins from Martin Jol at the end of October, believes the team have shown themselves capable of competing with the leading lights of the English game and is determined to use Tottenham's first silverware since 1999 as the springboard to better things.

"The team has been improving little by little in the terms of the security and confidence that they feel," said Ramos, whose men beat Arsenal in the semi-final in January. "This final reaffirmed that. They have improved their general demeanour, like in the (recent) games against Arsenal and Manchester United, and Chelsea are another one of those teams, they are on the same level.

"They have shown they are able to concentrate, to fight with the best of them. The key was not making mistakes. They managed that.

"It's always a tremendous satisfaction to win a trophy, especially for the club itself. This one perhaps has a special flavour to it because it was against a team that was supposedly superior to us. It's similar to (his former club) Sevilla playing against the likes of Barcelona and Real Madrid and beating them."

Tottenham trailed to Didier Drogba's first-half free-kick but equalised through a Dimitar Berbatov penalty, after Wayne Bridge had handled. Woodgate headed the winner with the aid of a ricochet off Petr Cech, the Chelsea goalkeeper. The defender, an €10.6 million January signing from Middlesbrough, was an accidental hero, having not intended to go forward for Jermaine Jenas's 94th-minute free-kick.

He was among a host of Tottenham players to marvel at what was a victory against the odds and the culmination of personal journeys. Weeks ago glamorous ties were distinctly lacking for him at Middlesbrough.

"It was my first goal since Real Madrid," he said. "I wasn't planning on going up. I just took a chance. Everyone dreams of scoring the winning goal in a cup final and I'm delighted. Hopefully this isn't going to be the last trophy. We're still in the Uefa Cup and that is definitely a possibility."

Woodgate took the man-of-the-match award, edging out his central defensive partner Ledley King, the captain, who returned from his knee injury to last the 120 minutes with some distinction.

"Hopefully this can be the start of something special, hopefully we can kick on now," said Robbie Keane, the Republic of Ireland striker. "This was a massive test for us and it's unbelievable and a dream come true to come out as winners. I dreamt of this moment as a kid, I'm speechless."

The Chelsea manager, Avram Grant, criticised the penalty decision, while he was upset that the full-time whistle sounded as Salomon Kalou, the substitute, bore down on the Tottenham goal.

"It was a rash decision, it touched the hand of Bridge but it was a rash decision, like the one in the last minute when Kalou was through," said Grant. "Every time the ball touches a player's hand, it's not a penalty. If it's deliberate, yes . . . if not, no."