Winning this cup would top the lot
Skippering Hearts to glory would be finest moment of my career, insists veteran Gordon
APHENOMENAL professional career spanning more than two decades has delivered abundant success for Craig Gordon. League titles, domestic trebles, Champions League appearances and 66 Scotland caps all figure on a CV listing line after line of achievement.
A multi-million pound transfer, an epic comeback from the brink of retirement and a full-circle return to his boyhood club add further colour to a story that stands beside the very best in the Scottish game.
At the age of 39, what could possibly top all of that? The answer, it turns out, lies at Hampden this afternoon. Gordon insists captaining Hearts to Scottish Cup glory, and lifting the trophy in front of his family, would go straight in at No 1 on his personal chart.
‘It would be something special,’ admitted the goalkeeper. ‘It would be great to have them there and witness that. My family are all Hearts fans, so to have them there and see that would be the best moment for them in my entire career, I’ve no doubt. And for me as well.
‘To actually lift the cup as the captain of a team — I really don’t think it gets much better. Hopefully everybody does the business and we manage to make that happen. I have achieved some amazing things, especially since coming back into football, but to actually be that person that leads your team up the steps… I don’t think it gets any better.’
Asked if he was allowing himself to dream of doing it, Gordon added: ‘I think that’s only natural. There is no point trying to fight it.
‘It might not be the outcome, but that is certainly what we are planning for.’
Overcoming Rangers is a huge task. Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s squad may be dealing with the emotional hangover of losing Wednesday night’s Europa League final in a penalty shoot-out, but they retain a depth of quality that allowed a second string line-up to ease to victory at Tynecastle last weekend.
Hearts start as underdogs. But then Gordon need only think back to his first Scottish Cup final to realise that guarantees little.
Then just 23, he was part of a Hearts side taken all the way to penalties by Gretna. Gordon’s save from Derek Townsley secured a shoot-out advantage before Gavin Skelton clipped the bar to send the trophy to Gorgie.
‘If someone had told me back in 2006 that I’d be back at Hearts playing in another Scottish Cup final I wouldn’t have believed them,’ said a smiling Gordon.
‘It has been a long time, I’m not sure if anyone has won two cups 16 years apart. That might be another little bit of history, but we have to get everything right for that to happen.
‘This is a chance to go out
I’m not sure if anyone has won two Scottish Cups 16 years apart
of this season on a high and that’s what we have been preparing for.
‘The Gretna game shows it’s just about winning, any way you can. It also shows how well underdogs can do in football.
‘We made heavy weather of it that day. We struggled to win it but got there on penalties in the end.
‘This time we go into it as the underdogs, we’re the Gretna in this one, but that’s fine.
‘I have had it both ways. I do like going in with the confidence knowing you’re the bigger team and if you get everything absolutely right then you should win it.
‘But the other side of that is, as underdog you have to get everything right to give yourselves a chance. That’s what we have to aim for — get everything spot on.’
Regardless of what happens today, Gordon will be back with Hearts next season and enjoying some form of European group-stage football. The same can’t yet be said for his opposite number at Ibrox.
At the age of 40, Allan McGregor saw the crowning feat of Europa League glory slip from Rangers’ grasp in Seville. With his contract up this summer, it’s not yet clear whether he intends to play on.
‘We go back a long time,’ said Gordon. ‘He was a year older than me in the Edinburgh schools teams. I remember going up to sit on the bench for their age group when he was playing and he was a fantastic goalkeeper back then. He has gone on to have a great career. Who knows whether this will be his last game or whether he even plays because I know that Jon McLaughlin has played every other round so far.
‘We’ll see what their team selection is but Allan has had a fantastic career and I’ve nothing but respect for what he has achieved.
‘I think Hearts beat Rangers in Andy Goram’s last game. A similar result would be just fine.’
Hearts did end Goram’s legendary Ibrox career with defeat in the 1998 Scottish Cup final. That one was settled inside 90 minutes. But what about the prospect of penalties today — something that would bring nervous flashbacks for Rangers given their midweek anguish?
‘I think both teams will be well prepared for that eventuality,’ argued Gordon, who lost the delayed 2020 Scottish Cup final to former club Celtic on penalties.
‘You can do your homework but then they step up knowing you’ve watched their last penalty, so there are pros and cons to that. Everybody can do something different or change their mind in a cup final. I don’t think it has a massive bearing. It’s about what you feel on the day and how the striker behaves. ‘There are a lot of mind games between now and then but I don’t know if there is that much to gain from watching previous penalties because it will be different on the day.’ Twenty-one years on from his senior debut as a loanee at Cowdenbeath, Gordon’s passion for success is undiminished. ‘How many finals have I played in? I don’t know,’ he laughed. ‘I don’t look back too often, it’s always about the next one. ‘We got there (to the Scottish Cup final) last season — actually two seasons ago but it was played last season — and didn’t win it. ‘We think we have improved since then and have new players who didn’t experience that final. ‘It’s never nice to lose a final, I’ve been lucky enough to not lose too many but it’s not a nice feeling. We don’t want to feel that way again.’