Doyle’s delight at memories of mastering Mata
Not many of Juan Mata’s opponents have emerged victorious from a headto-head with the World Cup winner.
But Colin Doyle has done it – twice.
The Hearts keeper stuck Mata in his back pocket after saving not one, but two of his penalty kicks when Birmingham City lost to Chelsea in the FA Cup in 2011/12.
The Spaniard gave Doyle, then City’s stopper, his shirt as a memento after Chelsea progressed at the second time of asking.
Now, as Hearts prepare to launch their assault on the Scottish Cup today, their goalie insists he’ll be ready to deny Livingston should he be called upon. Asked for his Cup memories, Doyle said: “I played in the FA Cup for Birmingham at Chelsea and I saved a penalty and we drew 1-1.
“I saved another penalty in the replay, though we ended up losing.
“Mata took both, one to the right and one to the left.
“After the game he gave me his jersey but I think I ruined his confidence as he missed a penalty in the Champions League final two months later.
“His jersey is at home, up in the loft beside all the other ones.
“It is a good memory to tell the grandkids down the line and it was great at the time.”
Penalties, then, are enjoyable for Doyle – especially with the amount of research keepers can do nowadays.
“It was different back then,” he said. “Now there is video work. You can search who you are playing and click on penalties and see every penalty from the last three years.
“We didn’t have that back then. You just stood there and picked a side.
“It was really a 50-50 guess but now, before the game, we will look at the penalties – me, Bobby (Zlamal), Gall (Paul Gallacher) the goalkeeping coach – and we will have a side picked for whatever player takes penalties.
“You saw that in the summer – Jordan Pickford had it on his water bottle, the names and which way he was going to dive.”
Livi have proved themselves a tough nut to crack for many teams this season – not least Hearts.
The last time the sides met Gary Holt’s men dished out a 5-0 thumping.
But Doyle insists Hearts have put that horror show behind them and are focused only on Cup progress. “They have done well this year and they are up there so we know it will be a difficult game,” said Doyle, who usurped Zlamal as the Jam Tarts’ number one after the Livi loss.
“They get men behind the ball and try to catch you on the break.
“We know it is going to be a difficult game and we know what to expect.
“Hopefully, we will get the win and into the next round draw.”