This victory is just the start, says Ramos
Spurs manager savours 'beautiful' Carling Cup win
Chelsea rage at referee after Woodgate's winner
David Hytner at Wembley
Monday February 25, 2008
The Guardian
Juande Ramos savoured a "beautiful" victory over Chelsea in the Carling 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.
"The truth is that this was a beautiful experience. The format is very different to the finals that I've been involved in in Spain before, having the red carpet and so on. We've enjoyed very much this victory with our fans in the stadium, it's been a unique experience and one I hope to repeat in the future."
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 £8m 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.
"This was the sort of game that it was very important that Ledley played in," said Ramos. "He made a tremendous effort to be able to play. Having lost the last time he played in a final [the 2002 League Cup against Blackburn], this was a new experience for him and one which he deserved.
"He and Woodgate had magnificent games but that was the case with the team as a whole. We were playing against a team of great players like Drogba so they had to concentrate to the maximum possible. We managed and in the end, we deserved to win this title."
Ramos joked that he would relax his strict rules on diet to allow his players to celebrate but thoughts had already begun to turn to the future. "Hopefully this can be the start of something special, hopefully we can kick on now," said Robbie Keane, the 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."
Chelsea rage at referee after Woodgate's winner
David Hytner at Wembley
Monday February 25, 2008
The Guardian
Juande Ramos savoured a "beautiful" victory over Chelsea in the Carling 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.
"The truth is that this was a beautiful experience. The format is very different to the finals that I've been involved in in Spain before, having the red carpet and so on. We've enjoyed very much this victory with our fans in the stadium, it's been a unique experience and one I hope to repeat in the future."
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 £8m 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.
"This was the sort of game that it was very important that Ledley played in," said Ramos. "He made a tremendous effort to be able to play. Having lost the last time he played in a final [the 2002 League Cup against Blackburn], this was a new experience for him and one which he deserved.
"He and Woodgate had magnificent games but that was the case with the team as a whole. We were playing against a team of great players like Drogba so they had to concentrate to the maximum possible. We managed and in the end, we deserved to win this title."
Ramos joked that he would relax his strict rules on diet to allow his players to celebrate but thoughts had already begun to turn to the future. "Hopefully this can be the start of something special, hopefully we can kick on now," said Robbie Keane, the 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."
posted by dgarden at 8:54 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home