CRAIG IS A REAL CASS ACT

CRAIG GORDON was inspired to play in the Champions League when he went to Hampden four years ago and saw teenage keeper Iker Casillas come on as a sub and help Real Madrid beat Bayer Leverkusen in the Final.

Now Scotland's No.1 is on the verge of realising his dream of playing in the same event with Hearts.

But Gordon won't allow himself to think about the possibility of AEK Athens in the third qualifying round until the job of eliminating Siroki Brijeg has been completed tonight and Hearts have negotiated the early test of their title aspirations that will come when Celtic visit Tynecastle on Sunday.

And the Jambos keeper does not believe the tortuous journey back from Bosnia that has him and his teammates arriving in the capital at 5.30am tomorrow, after a three-hour bus journey from Mostar to Dubrovnik, will mean they're as disadvantaged as the Celtic players who will be preparing to face Yokohama Marinos in Japan at the same time.

But then Gordon doesn't let trivialities bother him after his last visit to the former Yugoslavia brought home to him the horrors of civil war.

He said: "Adrenalin is what will carry us through everything we have to do as a team over the next few days.

"We've also got a big enough squad to bring in other good players if anybody does feel tired after the trip back from Bosnia.

"Personally speaking, these are the moments I've lived for since I made my breakthrough into the team the season after watching Real lift the Champions League trophy in Glasgow. I'd gone to the match and I remember Casillas making one terrific save after another to help Real hold on to their 2-1 lead.

"That night made me understand that being young should be no barrier to believing you could hold down a first-team place at the highest level. "Having the game to merit a place should be the only qualification.

"The following season, Celtic took five goals off Hearts when Tepi Moilanen was in goal and the following week I got the chance to make a name for myself.

"Then came the trip to play Zeljeznicar in the UEFA Cup. I remember going out for a walk on the day of the game and seeing the shelled out-buildings.

"It was heart-rending to see the damage done by the conflict and a real eye-opener for a young man. "It was sad to see what was left of the city and it made you appreciate what you had to go back to at home.

"Some of the Zeljeznicar players had even gone to war and come back in an attempt to pick up the pieces of their football career."

Gordon has counted his blessings every time he's gone out to play for Hearts since witnessing the ravages of war at first hand, and subsequently climbed to prominence with the speed of a man who is as good as he s grateful for the chance to make a living doing what he does.

But the keeper knows he can go higher still if he can play at the highest level in the Champions League.

Gordon said: "First of all, we'll look to score against Siroki. But we won't panic if they should manage to do that before us. We showed at Dunfermline on Saturday in our opening SPL game that this is a different Hearts side from years gone by.

"The old one might have thought a scoring draw away from home was a good result after Dunfermline equalised, but this team goes after victory in every game and eventually got it at East End Park.

"If we get past the Bosnians I'll start to think about AEK, who are one of the big name sin Europe. The fact that the Greeks were seeded in the draw speaks volumes for their reputation, but it's a great incentive for us tonight to know that they're our next opponents.

"I could never have imagined when I made my league debut that I'd be where I am today but I still feel as if I'm in the early part of my education in the game. And f you ask me in 10 years' time, I'll still say that I'mon a learning curve."

Gordon certainly has no intention of giving understudy Steve Banks a look in for the game against Celtic, sleep deprivation or not.

He said: "A quick nap when we do get back to Edinburgh will be the best course of action, then a light training session in the afternoon. The players now have a different mentality when it come sto these things.

"Last season we showed our inner strength by surviving the turmoil at the club that saw managers and officials come and go. I thought we did miraculously well to win the Scottish Cup and get into the Champions League qualifiers by finishing above Rangers in the league.

"This season we're rising above the loss of star players like Rudi Skacel and Andy Webster. Christophe Berra's come into our defence and done a fantastic job and Neil McCann's given us pace and invention on the left-hand side of our attack.

"It's going to be a long, hard season and we'll need to strengthen the squad to get through it. But if I want to think back on how much I appreciate everything I've got, I remember the last time I was here.

"How else would I have seen a city like Mostar if it wasn't for football? The Champions League can be my gateway to more experiences, but we've got to take care of Siroki and AEK Athens to help broaden my horizons."

Taken from the Daily Record