Birmingham captain Stephen Carr showered praise on match-winner Obafemi Martins.
Blues captain savouring the moment
Birmingham captain Stephen Carr showered praise on match-winner Obafemi Martins after the Carling Cup final victory over Arsenal.
The Nigeria striker only joined the Blues last month on loan until the end of the season from Rubin Kazan.
And there will be calls from amongst the Birmingham fans for his deal to be made permanent after he scored the goal which gave them their first trophy since 1963.
Carr was also impressed with his display having come on as a second-half substitute.
Sharpness
He said: "He showed that bit of sharpness when he came on. He's a handful."
Birmingham's supporters had put on a display of passionate support for their team and created a vibrant atmosphere at Wembley, with some of them arriving two hours before kick-off.
"That will make their year, make their life probably," Carr added. "A lot of
people have been waiting a long time for this.
"We knew if we got right in (Arsenal's) faces we could get the result. We kept going and we just got that little bit of luck at the end."
Trade mark
Lee Bowyer put in a trademark performance that was laced with his tireless running and darts into the opposition penalty box.
For him, the result was totally deserved and was just rewards for their endeavour.
"Everyone underestimated us...but we're going home as champions. It's unbelievable," he told
Sky Sports.
"I think we deserved it overall, we kept pressing and pressing and the game plan worked, Martins came on and we nicked it."
On his own performance, the widely-travelled midfielder added: "Still box-to-box, not bad for 34 is it?"
On a day of milestones, the match was the first domestic cup final to be broadcast by Sky Sports in 3D and the inaugural occasion that a Birmingham game has been shown in the new format.
It means that Sky Sports has now covered each and every Premier League club in 3D since the new technology was launched back March.
