Dimitar Mitov says Aberdeen squad ‘heroes forever’ after Scottish Cup triumph

Aberdeen goalkeeper Dimitar Mitov struggled to describe his emotions after becoming a Dons hero at Hampden.

Mitov saved from Callum McGregor and Alistair Johnston to seal a 4-3 penalty shoot-out win against Celtic in the Scottish Gas Scottish Cup final.

The Bulgaria international was only beaten by an unfortunate Alfie Dorrington own goal during 120 minutes of football as the Dons held out for a 1-1 draw.

Mitov then took centre stage to help Aberdeen seal their first triumph in the tournament for 35 years.

“When I saved the second penalty, I was a bit worried because the ref was checking the VAR,” the 28-year-old said. “I was trying to stay calm and control the emotions.

“When he says ‘it’s fine’, honestly, you feel something that you can’t explain. You can’t say. I’m so, so happy for everybody involved.”

When asked how he approached the shoot-out, Mitov said: “There’s no tactics. It’s trying to read, trying to be calm.

“You can see, even when I saved the first penalty from McGregor, I was trying to stay calm. Don’t get too emotional, don’t get too ahead of yourself, think of one penalty at the time.

“And I’m actually really disappointed because I should have saved (Daizen) Maeda’s penalty. And if we didn’t win that game, that would probably haunt me for the rest of my life. But listen, I’m over the moon.

“I think I’ve got about 500 messages already from back home. Everybody’s super happy, everybody’s super proud.

“And listen, it’s moments like this, that’s why we play football. And nobody can take away this from us now because I’m sure we’re going to be heroes forever.”

Mitov cut a confident figure during the shoot-out but he revealed manager Jimmy Thelin had filled the whole squad with belief.

“Always but I believe it comes from the manager,” he said. “Because I’m going to give you a little secret. Leading to the final it’s always ‘when we win the final’. It’s no ifs. And that mentality creeps into your head. Then you start thinking positive, you start imagining, you start seeing it.

“And when that changes, that mentality of the team, every time we talk to each other, it’s when we win the final. No ifs. And I think that was the turning point.”