Claros keen to get hold of winners’ medal – and son

JORGE CLAROS is desperate to lift the Scottish Cup this weekend so that he can take his winners’ medal home to Honduras and the son that he has never held.

The Hibs midfielder became a father to Johan three months ago but has never met the new addition because his wife has remained in their home country.

He is heading home when the season draws to a close though, and would love nothing more than to be able to go back to his family in Honduras as a winner.

He said: “My boy Johan is three months old and I am looking forward to meeting him for the first time. I have not seen him yet because my wife has remained in Honduras. I got the Man of the Match award against St Mirren recently and afterwards I saw my baby boy for the first time using Skype on the internet.

“I actually named him after the legendary Dutch player Johan Cruyff. I have not even held him yet but I am going back to Honduras very soon to meet him. I hope to take a Scottish Cup winners’ medal back to put around Johan’s neck and perhaps even to score him a special Cup final goal.”

Claros joined Hibs in January on a year-long deal and admits that to win a piece of silverware after such a short time would be a dream come true.

Hibs’ history in the Scottish Cup would make a victory over Hearts at Hampden an even greater achievement and Claros acknowledges that he and his team-mates are on the verge of something special indeed: “It has been a very good year,” he added.

“I have been in Scotland for only five months and now I have the chance to win the Scottish Cup with Hibs. They have not won the cup for 110 years and yet I could win it within five months of coming to Easter Road. It’s amazing, it would be fantastic.

“It would be the stuff of dreams really. In Honduras, I played in five cup finals with Motagua and there are usually 15,000 fans there. It’s big but it’s not as big as in Scotland.”

Not only will Claros have the weight of pressure from the massed Hibs supporters on his shoulders this weekend though, his countryman Emilio Izaguirre will also be willing him on.

The Celtic defender is a former team-mate from Claros’ time at Motagua and the Hibs player continued: “He phoned me and said to me: ‘Claros, you are my brother, and now it is your turn to be champion. You must beat Hearts at Hampden on Saturday.’ He is a great man and a great player. He has played for the national team of Honduras for many years and he is a champion of Honduras with Motagua many times. But now he says it is my time to shine. He said: ‘Claros, go and become a hero with Hibs’. He believes in me, he believes in Hibs – and I think we can do it too.”