Hearts stay calm amid European storm

One of Europe’s genuine star clubs could be heading to Edinburgh in a few weeks for a Champions League third qualifying round encounter that could probably fill Murrayfield, on the evidence of the numbers who turned out on Wednesday night to see NK Siroki Brijeg swept aside on Hearts’ return to the top stage after an absence of 46 years.

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After all, if 28,486 fans bothered to turn up to watch a side of unknown Bosnians, aided by a trio of Brazilians, with the match screened live on television, then what will the clamour by like if it is Thierry Henry who is next on the menu. The draw for the third qualifying round, which carries a passport to the lucrative group stages, is made today at Uefa’s headquarters in Nyon, Switzerland.

Arsenal are among the 16 seeded teams who could be paired with Hearts. The Bank of Scotland Premierleague side are not getting carried away with themselves after just one leg of the second round tie completed, but the mission of progress to the next round has almost certainly been completed ahead of next week’s trip to Bosnia for the return match.

By then, of course, Hearts will know which side they will face if they win. That will be all the incentive required to complete the task. AC Milan, Liverpool, Valencia, Ajax, Benfica, Galatasaray and CSKA Moscow are among the potential opponents. Milan and Liverpool would probably test the 68,000 seats of Scotland’s national rugby stadium, such is the public resurgence surrounding Hearts.

In truth, though, other seeds, such as Slovan Liberec of the Czech Republic or Levski Sofia of Bulgaria might offer more scope for qualification. Either way, Valdas Ivanauskas’s players are not allowing themselves to be distracted.

“It’s nice to be in this position when the draw is being made,” Neil McCann, the Scotland forward who played for almost an hour on his return from a knee injury, admitted. “We could face one of the Premiership sides, or Milan, but it is not done yet and we have to shut the tie out now.

“Being 3-0 up puts us in a strong position but we know it is not over yet. You saw with Celtic last season, when they lost 5-0 to Artmedia Bratislava and then won the return game 4-0, that nothing is guaranteed. It’s never over until it’s done.”

McCann, who is a European veteran, not just in his time at Rangers where he enjoyed plenty of Champions League experience, but also stretching back to his first spell at Hearts in the 1990s, got a first taste of Murrayfield, which the Edinburgh side have now embraced as their home ground for European ties because of Tynecastle’s limited 17,000 capacity.

“It was a great turnout by the Hearts fans to see an unfashionable team,” McCann noted. “Tynecastle is something special because it is such an intimidating arena and will remain that way for league games but, hopefully, we can enjoy a few European nights at Murrayfield this season. Almost 29,000 is amazing.

“You could sense that they were getting frustrated when it was 0-0 but European games are always difficult, no matter who you play. We knew they wanted us to score goals and, hopefully, this result will put them in a better frame of mind.

“It is very important to be patient. It took us a long while to make the breakthrough but we knew if we got one, we could get another. We had to show a mental strength that the Old Firm have and grind out results.”

An own goal by Branimir Anic put Hearts ahead in the 54th minute. Then Ibrahim Tall and and Roman Bednar sealed the success in the final 12 minutes. “Of course, we will have one eye on the next round but the job isn't done yet,” Steven Pressley, the captain, cautioned.

“When the mouth-watering draw for the third qualifier is made, we’ll all watch with great anticipation. It would be great if we could progress to the group stages because, financially, it would be fantastic for this club.”

The result is also a boost to Hearts ahead of start of the 2006-07 Premierleague campaign tomorrow. Hearts are reported to be trying to recruit a new midfield player from Barcelona. Ivanauskas and Eduard Malofeev, the sporting director, have targeted Arnau Caldentey, a left-sided player with Barcelona’s B side.

Malofeev is understood to have made contact with Nou Camp officials, but the issue has been complicated by the resignation of the entire Barcelona board on Wednesday, including Joan Laporta, the club president, ahead of the forthcoming presidential elections at the Spanish club.

Ivanauskas believes his team have a future in the Champions League. “Overall, it is a good result but we know how strong Siroki are in Bosnia,” the head coach said. “They have very good players and they can be dangerous in their own country. We have a very big chance to go through now and we don’t expect to lose this tie.”

Taken from timesonline.co.uk