It’s his stunning goal against Rangers that most people remember.
But Nick Dasovic’s opener in the game that got St Johnstone to the League Cup final was even more important.
For a defensive midfielder who only scored six times in as many years as a Saints player, the Canadian certainly couldn’t be accused of choosing his moments badly.
Sandwiched between the only goal of a league match at Celtic Park and the equaliser at the same venue in the 1998 final came the right foot volley from just inside the box to set the Perth side on their way to their last four 3-0 triumph over Hearts at Easter Road.
As Dasovic explained however, scoring was the last thing on his mind when he positioned himself for an Allan Preston out-swinging corner.
“My job was to be at the top of the box to try and pick up loose balls,” said the 52-year-old, who would grab a goal against Monaco in the Uefa Cup the following season. “Not to score but to stop the opposition breaking on us.
“It’s funny, I think both of the goals I scored – that one and in the final – (Alan) Kernaghan had a part in them.
“He won the second ball and, as we say over here, had an assist on both so I’ve got to thank him for sticking his head where others wouldn’t.
“I just tried to hit the target. It wasn’t a normal situation for me, that’s for sure.”
Hearts had lifted the Scottish Cup just a few months earlier and few would have predicted this would turn into a Saints win that came to its conclusion in “cruise control”, as Dasovic put it.
“We weren’t an underdog going into it but we weren’t supposed to win those games,” he said.
“Paul Sturrock hadn’t left long before and Sandy Clark had got off to a great start with the 4-0 win against Hibernian in the quarter-final.
“He didn’t make changes but he brought a different feeling and different dynamic – that happens for good or bad with every new manager.
“This change happened to come at a good moment for the players and I remember feeling really good about the game.”
George O’Boyle does a George Best
George O’Boyle was the scorer of the third deep into the second half but Dasovic has no doubts about which goal was the most important – Preston’s 25-yarder.
“Biscuits’ goal killed everything because it came right before half-time,” he said. “It was an incredible finish.
“After that we took over and it was almost like cruise control.
“We still had bath tubs in the dressing room back then and I can remember George O’Boyle lying back and giving it the old Georgie Best one……‘Where did it all go wrong?’
“It was such a special time.”
Dasovic believes Clark made a wise choice in his initial soft-touch approach to a Saints squad he inherited from Sturrock, a squad that was filled with senior pros at the top of their game.
“Luggy is one of the best tactical managers I’ve ever known to this day,” he said.
“If you gave him a week to prepare his team to play anybody – it could be Barcelona, whoever – he’d give you a chance.
“It didn’t mean you would win but he would have you understanding your system, the opposition, how you’re going to attack, how you’re going to defend. Everything.
“Sandy had a different, more relaxed demeanour and maybe that helped the dressing room at that particular time.
“I had a good relationship with both of them.
=1. Nick DASOVIC
05/12/68 – CAN
SPL Debut: 01/08/98 – Motherwell 1-0 ST JOHNSTONE – started.
Clubs: St Johnstone (98-02)
Apps: 104 (101+3)
Goals: 1 pic.twitter.com/B6vv5Fu0Sv— SPL Players (@splplayers) November 1, 2020
“I never needed a manager to motivate me – I didn’t play for a manager but I didn’t not play for a manager either.
“I played for the football club, my team-mates, my badge, myself, my family, my team’s supporters. I had a job to do.”
The Saints team that will seek to emulate Dasovic and the class of ’98 by becoming the next one to reach a League Cup final will get the chance to tick a career box the former Canadian international wasn’t able to, playing at Scotland’s national stadium.
But they won’t get to experience the sort of build-up that created life memories for him.
Embraced by people of Perth
“A lot of the magic about that team was most of us lived in the city or near to the city,” he said.
“We could see that people hurt when we lost and were happy when we won.
“Before the final you would walk around the shops and see all the blue and white ribbons and feel everybody getting behind us.
“Having around 11,000 people coming to support us from a city with a population of about 50,000 was amazing. Perth really embraced that team.
“The semi-final is a moment the players have to cherish – enjoy it and have no fear.
Nick Dasovic and Kieran McAnespie of St Johnstone at Stade Louis II for a UEFA Cup tie against Monaco. (1999) pic.twitter.com/OQyxjKlzmC
— PictureThis Scotland (@74frankfurt) November 22, 2018
“They have a chance to get the club to another final but it won’t be easy and they can’t get ahead of themselves.
“It’s just too bad there will be no fans there to see it.”
Dasovic added: “If I have one regret about my time in Scotland it’s that I never got to play at Hampden. It’s such a famous stadium.
“But we didn’t have any regrets about our final at Celtic Park, even though we lost.
“I never forget sitting in the team bus with the man of the match award, thinking I’d happily have traded it in a heartbeat for the trophy the Rangers players had in the coach beside us.
“One of them seemed to shrug, like they’d won another trophy and let’s move on.
“But when you looked at the quality of player in their bus – Andrei Kanchelskis, Jorg Albertz, Stephane Guivarc’h, Giovanni van Bronckhorst, Sergio Porrini and Lorenzo Amoruso they had an amazing team. The list goes on and on.
“So for us to push them to 2-1 still rates as an achievement.”
Dasovic, who coaches with the Vancouver Whitecaps, has been impressed with the direction his old team-mate Callum Davidson has taken Saints in his first season in charge.
‘I like the way St Johnstone are playing football’
“It’s crazy the number of games that you get on TV here but I watch St Johnstone as much as I can,” he said. “It’s easy to keep track of teams around the world nowadays.
“I think Callum is doing a tremendous job at the club.
“I know they aren’t sitting great in the table at the moment but I like the way they are playing football.
“He has changed the shape a little bit and it’s a brand of football I enjoy watching.
“And remember he has taken over from Tommy, who is a legend. It wasn’t going to be easy for anyone coming in.
“But I have watched the way Callum deals with things, including his post-match interviews, and he seems calm and organised.”
