A team full of heroes

Battling effort won tie, says Craig

PAUL KIDDIE

MODEST Hearts star Craig Gordon today played down his impressive performance in the Jambos’ epic UEFA Cup win over Basel, the goalkeeper insisting: "We had a team full of heroes."

The Scotland shot-stopper was forced to pull off a number of important saves to deny the Swiss outfit, his display between the sticks in the Stadion St Jakob Park prompting boss John Robertson to lavish praise on the youngster.

However, Gordon insisted his team-mates deserve an equal pat on the back after a result which breathed new life into their European campaign.

Goals from Dennis Wyness and Robbie Neilson - his first in eight years with Hearts - clinched a vital three points for the Tynecastle outfit and propelled them into third place in Group A behind leaders Schalke and Feyenoord.

Victory over Ferencvaros next month at Murrayfield will give Hearts a great chance of making it into the last 32, something many people doubted when the draw was made.

"We knew we had to score and take something from the game and to get the win was a fantastic achievement," said the 21-year-old. "It was a massive result and put things back in our own hands for the last game at Murrayfield which is what we wanted.

"No one person deserves the sole credit - everyone was a hero on the night. We even had Ramon (Pereira) making tackles at left-back which is unheard of but that just typified the team spirit in the side.

"I think Robbie was the most unlikely ever goalscorer apart from me to get the winner but it’s great for him. He has waited a long time for it and I’m delighted he scored when it really mattered."

Gordon made his European debut a year ago against in Bordeaux when Hearts recorded one of their best results on foreign soil. The 1-0 triumph that night eventually counted for nothing, though, with the French going through in the second leg and Gordon believes this result surpasses it.

"I suppose last night was better than the Bordeaux match as that was a two-legged tie which we didn’t get through," he said. "From that perspective this was a better result as we knew we had to win and that’s what we did."

Taken from the Scotsman