Words fail O'Neill in tribute to legend Larsson
O'Neill is renowned for never being short of a word or 12 but he insisted even his swollen vocabulary was inadequate to praise the efforts of the Swede, who is hours away from his last competitive game for Celtic.
O'Neill said: "Unless you are Thomas Hardy, Wordsworth or Shakespeare I don't know another way to say how good a player Henrik is. I just don't have the words in the dictionary to be able to describe it in a different fashion.
"I'm delighted to have him and I will be really disappointed when he leaves the football club as will every single Celtic fan.
"We will grieve for a little while and then we have to go and find ourselves another hero."
The Swede is to leave the club on a free transfer, to a destination as yet unknown, after seven seasons at Parkhead during which time he has scored 240 times.
Dunfermline, today's opponents in the Tennent's Scottish Cup final, will be desperate for that tally to remain the same.
O'Neill said: "Henrik is a top quality player for a start and I don't think you can become a top quality player without your attitude being spot on. There is more to professional football than just having a bit of ability and Henrik has got the attitude, the work ethic and the ability to score goals.
"For someone who is not the tallest centre forward in the world he is absolutely majestic in the air," said O'Neill.
Larsson also has a private farewell planned at Parkhead on Tuesday, with 60,000 guests already confirmed for the visit of Seville. But O'Neill was confident everyone would be fully focused on the cup final.
The Pars are rated as rank outsiders with some bookies offering odds of 9-1 against an upset.
Dunfermline have already beaten Celtic at Parkhead this season, although that was after the league had been won and Aberdeen had unexpectedly ruined the Hoops' hopes of going the entire season unbeaten.
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