‘Seven-stone’ Gordon has stunned Flogel
Thomas Flogel will never forget the gangly goalie who turned up at Tynecastle for training two decades ago.
Now the ex-austria ace looks forward to seeing Craig Gordon earn his 60th cap at the Ernst Happel Stadium, and will check in on his former colleague on Tuesday.
Gordon’s career has gone full circle since bursting on to the Jambos scene as a teenager, then debuting for Scotland aged 21. He’s back in Gorgie on top form, and has reclaimed the national team’s No. 1 jersey.
Flogel, a Gorgie favourite for five years, remembers doubting Gordon for a lack of muscle, but he reckons the mindset was always there to be top-class.
He recalled: “The first thing you noticed was Craig was so slim and really tall – like he weighed about seven stone!
“To be honest, he’s really surprised me. His career is extraordinary.
“Hopefully he plays on for longer. What a terrific goalkeeper, with great presence.
“Craig was a slim young thing at firstteam training. When he was in goal, you just thought – hit the ball hard.
“But a strength was how hard he worked on himself. His character was always very strong from the start.
“He was so quiet, always calm. You could never tell if he was happy. He never messed around, and was never one for nights out.
“Just very focused, very serious on his target to become No. 1, and he had Antti Niemi to look up to and learn from.
“It’s not enough to have talent as goalkeeper. You need mental tools, too. They are special people.
“And we all know Craig is one who wins his teams games and points in just one quick moment. That’s massive.”
Flogel has sympathy for the Scots being blown away by Denmark in midweek, after the Euro 2020 semi-finalists put four goals past Austria in Vienna in March.
He reckons the race to be runners-up is made easier for Scotland by injuries to key Austrian players – Sasa Kalajdzic (who scored twice in the 2-2 draw at Hampden), captain Julian Baumgartlinger, Xaver Schlager and Stefan Lainer.
Flogel, now managing in the Austrian third tier, said: “It’s going to be hard for Austria to get second because of these injuries.
“Hopefully we find a team to beat Scotland. With Marko Arnautovic up front, we can still be dangerous.”