CAPITAL CLASH WILL BE A STROLL FOR DAUDA
PYROTECHNICS on the training ground, f ans setting fire to the stadium, players fearful of venturing out of their front doors after a defeat.
Fair to say that Abiola Dauda’s experiences in playing for Red Star against Partizan Belgrade have inured him against anything the Edinburgh derby might throw at him tomorrow.
The Nigerian striker with the Swedish passport is poised to be thrown straight into the Hearts line-up against Hibs after completing a loan deal from Vitesse Arnhem on deadline day.
Whatever happens in Gorgie, however hyped up both sets of fans may be for a Scottish Cup clash made all the more tasty for the absence of league fixtures between the clubs, it’s unlikely to faze the 28-year-old.
‘I played in the Red Star-Partizan derby, which is really big,’ said Dauda. ‘I also played in the Vitesse-Nijmegen derby but that’s not as big as the Belgrade game.
‘In Belgrade, everything starts two weeks before the game.
‘A lot of fans come to the training pitch and bring fireworks with them, set them off at the training ground.
‘They make us understand this is a game for them, that we have to win it for them. We have to respect that.
‘Yeah, it can be scary. There would be trouble at the game, fighting and destroying seats.
‘The last time there was a fire at our stadium, started by Partizan f ans because they were losing, and we had to stop the game.
‘We won 1-0 and that was important for the title.
‘You have a lot of games in the season, but just two derbies — home and away — so this is the game of the fans.
‘The impression they give to the players is always: “This is for us, you have to do this for us.”
‘If we lost, yeah, our own supporters would turn on us. You couldn’t walk the streets for the next few weeks.
‘That’s difficult pressure for a football er. But it’ s about having mental strength.
‘If I can handle the Red StarPartizan derby, I can handle anything.
‘ It was always played in front of 50,000 fans, a huge atmosphere. What more could you want?
‘Having the derby this weekend makes it a lot of fun, no? I didn’t know so much about the game before I arrived but everyone here’s been telling me about it.
‘There will be a lot of nerves and the adrenaline will start to kick in from tomorrow.’
Dauda, who has pitched up at Hearts after losing his place as a first- choice starter in Holland, followed a well-worn path from Nigerian to Scandinavia as soon as he was old enough to pack his boots.
He spent almost six years in Sweden before heading to Belgrade.
‘I was 18 when I left my family to come to Europe,’ he said. ‘It was difficult but it makes me what I am today.
‘The language, the weather, the people, the food of course — that first year was very difficult. But after that it was better.
‘The African guys who come to Europe, it makes them tougher.’
What Dauda hopes to gain from his time at Tynecastle is obvious; he has international ambitions that can only be realised by playing regularly.
As for what he brings to Hearts, head coach Robbie Neilson believes Dauda is an even a better all-round footballer than the man he is replacing, China-bound Osman Sow.
‘Dauda is a wee bit different from Osman,’ said Neilson. ‘He’s got great pace and his movement is probably better.
‘Osman can make something out of nothing, he’s got a magic that he can create something. He’s technically better dealing with the ball but that comes f r om t he experience of playing in the top flight in three different countries.’
Neilson did little to dispel the widely-held belief that, however well Championship challengers Hibs may be playing, the sheer strength, pace and power of the Premiership side is likely to give them an edge when the old rivals collide.
‘There are two good teams there,’ he said. ‘ Hibs are a good passing team, they’ve got a diamond in the midfield, they get a lot of possession and they get their full backs high.
‘We play a different style, we’ve got a lot more athletic players, a lot of power and a lot of pace — but we’ve also got good passers of the ball.
‘We’ll also have a huge crowd backing us on Sunday. We’ll go into the game with full confidence we can get a result.
‘Hibs have beaten St Johnstone, Aberdeen and Dundee United this season, three top teams in the Premiership.
‘They have good pedigree and they’re on a great run of form — and they’re very consistent.
‘ They’ve got the momentum that we had last year, winning week-in, week- out which breeds confidence.
‘It’s going to be a tough game but I feel we have the players here that can win.’
Neilson attended last weekend’s League Cup semi-final, watching just a little uncomfortably as Tynecastle was taken over by Hibs fans watching their team beat St Johnstone.
‘It was strange seeing so much green at Tynecastle,’ he said. ‘Hibs brought a great support and it
really helped them. It was a great atmosphere.
‘It will be a different story on Sunday. It’s totally different playing in front of 13,000 of your own fans compared to opposition supporters.
‘Yes, they had a good result but this will be a different day.’
Neilson said he had encountered no hassle getting in and out of the ground; his status as head coach of ‘the other lot’ not provoking much more than the odd jokey comment from the Hibs throng.
If that’s a sign of the civilised nature that keeps the majority involved in this rivalry on the right side of sanity — rarely straying anywhere near the excesses seen in Belgrade, Buenos Aires or other genuine derby hot spots — there should be no lack of heat and noise in Gorgie tomorrow.
Who handles it best will win. Which might just make Dauda, either as a starter or impact sub, a very useful addition to the Hearts squad.