Christophe Berra says captaining Hearts to Scottish Cup glory this afternoon would be the pinnacle of his career.
Hearts face Celtic at Hampden Park in the showpiece finale, and the Tynecastle men have the quiet confidence of team ready to cause a major cup upset.
Club captain Christophe Berra has already lifted the trophy with the men in maroon – back in 2006 when Hearts defeated Gretna – but he says doing it again, this time as skipper, would be his crowning achievement.
Speaking at his pre-match press conference, Berra said: “We’re very excited and looking forward to it. It’s a massive occasion for everyone involved. It feels like it’s been a long week so we just want the game to come and we’ll deal with it.
“I’ve had some big games in my career, obviously for the national team, and I think this will be the highlight.
“I’ve come back to Scotland, to Edinburgh, to my home team and I don’t think there would be a better occasion and highlight of my career, lifting a trophy for Hearts.
“In football you sometimes take it for granted, especially when you’re younger, and you don’t realise that there are very few players who will have opportunities to win silverware.
“Every opportunity, you’ve got to give it your all, hope for the best and make the most of these opportunities and get your hands on a bit of silverware.
“We’ve always got a big performance in us. We’ve been working hard on the pitch on things that we want to do and I think if we can try and put those things we’ve been working on into the match, and with a bit of lady luck, we’ve got every chance.”
Craig Levein, too, is confident that his Hearts side can beat Celtic in the Scottish Cup Final, as they’ve already beaten them twice in the last two years.
Speaking at Hampden Park ahead of the Cup Final, the Hearts boss said: “We’re going for the Single Single. It’s just as important to us.
“We’ve got recent history of beating Celtic. The preparation for the game in the last two or three weeks has gone extremely well.
“We can beat Celtic, we’ve proven that. We’ve got a big occasion in us, I’m certain of that. It’s about bringing our A-game at the right time and possibly having a little bit rub of the green.”
Levein confirmed that three injury doubts ahead of the game – Peter Haring, Arnaud Djoum and Uche Ikpeazu – will all feature in his plans for the final.
“I’m confident of everybody we were worried about – other than Steven Naismith and Olly Lee who picked up an injury against Celtic last week. The others have done enough to make me feel that they can be useful.
“I still haven’t got a definitive team in my head because I need to look at the players who haven’t played recently or trained a lot. I’m not certain they’ll all last the 90 minutes – and it might go on longer than that.
“The good news is that most of our injuries have cleared up.”
When asked about the mood in the camp, Levein said there was no room for nerves.
“They all came to Hearts to be involved in occasions like the one on we’re involved in on Saturday. There’s no place for feeling nervous because the fact is, they all signed up to play in this type of occasion.
“For me, it’s excitement. That’s the overriding feeling at this minute in time and I’m sure the players are the same.”
A Celtic team firing on all cylinders would surely put their Edinburgh challengers firmly in their place this afternoon – but it has been a wee while since the Scottish champions have hit the heights. They have looked jaded in recent weeks; they’ve lost their sparkle.
There’s no doubt that Celtic have quality players who have what it takes to get the job done, and the goal of an incredible treble treble really should be motivation enough to see the Hoops get over the line to make history this afternoon – but it would be foolish to write Hearts off.
There’s no mystery about how Hearts will set out their stall today. The talismanic Ikpeazu has the strength and awkwardness to give the Hoops back line a torrid time, and Hearts will be keen to get the ball up to the big guy at every opportunity. Chances will be at a premium and set-pieces are likely to give the Edinburgh men their best opportunities to cause an upset.
Hearts have certainly had that ‘little bit rub of the green’ during their cup run, enjoying favourable draws in each round. Will Lady Luck look kindly upon Hearts for just one more game?
Everything may point to a Celtic win, but dismiss Hearts at your peril. It’s been a deeply frustrating season for the Jambos after such a thrilling start – but that disappointment will be forgotten in an instant if the Hearts do indeed go up to lift the Scottish Cup.
And Captain Berra’s greatest moment in football may yet be still to come.
Cup Final: Hearts-vs-Celtic-travel-advice
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