WEMBLEY, England (AP) -Juande Ramos arrived at Tottenham as the cup final specialist, and it's taken him only four months to prove his can do it in England as well as Spain.
Tottenham rallied to beat Chelsea 2-1 Sunday in extra time in the League Cup final, giving Spurs their first trophy in nine years.
Now Ramos, who won two straight UEFA Cup titles at Sevilla, will immediately turn his focus to winning a third in Europe's No. 2 competition.
With Tottenham faltering under Martin Jol, Ramos was lured from Sevilla, where he also won the Copa del Rey, the Spanish Super Cup and the European Super Cup.
"It's always a tremendous satisfaction to win a trophy," Ramos said. "This one maybe has a special flavor to it because it was against a team that was superior to us. Perhaps it makes it taste better.
Although Didier Drogba gave Chelsea the lead after a contentious free kick, Dimitar Berbatov equalized in the 70th minute and Jonathan Woodgate headed in his first goal for Tottenham four minutes into extra time.
"It's a beautiful experience to win and the format is very different to the finals I've been in before, walking out on a red carpet," Ramos said.
The Spaniard's strict regime and ruthless methodology, including ordering his bloated players to diet, has taken Spurs to heights unimaginable during the first troubled weeks of the season.
But in triumph, he has eased the restrictions.
"It's not a particularly strict diet. It's quite a nice diet and allows them to sometimes eat and drink out of control," Ramos said. "And I've already had a drink with the players."
Now Europe is the priority, with PSV Eindhoven facing Tottenham in the UEFA Cup's round of 16 and Ramos already dreaming of the final in May.
"The team has been improving little by little in terms of security and the confidence they feel," Ramos said. "This game today has simply reaffirmed that.
"They have improved their general posture like in games against Manchester United and Arsenal. They have shown they are able to concentrate and to fight with the best of them."
