WE CAN BE HEROES... JUST FOR ONE DAY

Gloved colossus Mitov reckons heroics will carve Reds' names in folklore forever as he salutes Thelin's soundtrack to success

- ANDY NEWPORT

DIMITAR MITOV threw himself at Alistair Johnston's fateful spot-kick and refused to let go.

And the Aberdeen hero knows no matter what happens for him in the years to come, he'll always be able to cling to the legendary status he now holds at Pittodrie.

With his two crucial saves in the shoot-out - plus another match-rescuing stop from Daizen Maeda in injury time of the 90 minutes - the Dons No.1 wrote himself into the history books.

When Jimmy Thelin's men needed a saviour, it was the Bulgarian who stood firm to paw away the penalty opener from Callum McGregor.

It was a trick he repeated when Johnston stepped forward knowing he had to score to keep Celtic in it.

Guessing correctly, Mitov threw himself low to his right and grabbed the moment the Red Army have been waiting 35 long years to witness.

Now Mitov says he, his boss, skipper Graeme Shinnie and every other player who donned a red jersey and ran himself into the ground at Hampden can rest easy in the knowledge their standing as Aberdeen icons is secure.

"Nobody can take this away from us now, I'm sure we're going to be heroes forever," said the Pittodrie No.1.

"It's incredible to win it because of the fact it was 35 years since Aberdeen last won the Cup.

"I didn't realise how few they'd been to, this was only the fourth since 1990. It's amazing for everyone at the club."