Will Bozanic be the Lord Mayor of Gorgie?
Winning vital matches is in the blood for Olly Bozanic.
It’s just over 40 years since his dad scored one of the most-dramatic goals in Australian domestic football.
The Hearts midfielder would love to make a similar impact that leads to his side winning today’s semi-final against Celtic.
Vic Bozanic got the goal that earned West Adelaide a 1-1 draw against bitter rivals, Adelaide City.
The late strike, set up by former Clyde player Peter Boyle, meant his team were crowned national league champions.
There was a pitch invasion at full-time and a commentator screaming that “Vic Bozanic will be the Lord Mayor of Adelaide tomorrow.”
A winning goal by Bozanic Jnr would definitely spark similar scenes of jubilation amongst the Hearts fans – although a pitch invasion would probably be unwise.
The 29-year-old scored against Dundee last Tuesday in only his second league start for the club.
Bozanic said: “My dad was a massive influence on me growing up.
“He won’t be over from Australia for this game, but maybe for the Final if we get there.
“There is a great set-up here at Hearts, and the way we are going now, we hope we can lift trophies this year.
“There might be a financial gap between us and Celtic but, as a foreigner, I don’t see that being an issue.
“We have a game plan and I think if we stick to that then we can have another good result.”
Bozanic played in Australia, England, Switzerland and Japan before arriving in Gorgie during the summer.
He knows two major figures at Celtic very well.
Brendan Rodgers was his manager at Reading for a spell, while midfielder Tom Rogic has been a team-mate for club and country.
“I trained under Brendan when I was only a young player,” he went on. “I really enjoyed my time there. He was a very technical coach and I picked up a lot of good things from him.
“Tom and I were together at Central Coast Mariners. He was a massive talent back then and it was inevitable that he was going to move on.
“He is someone we will have to look out for. But all season we have shown that we have good players and that we can stand up on the big occasions.”