DeeTee
03 Jun 2005, 10:25 AM
RANGERS will renew their long-established links with Canada after announcing they will embark on a nine-day pre-season trip in July, basing themselves in the Toronto area.
Alex McLeish's title-winning squad will head out on July 4, returning on July 13, for an intensive training trip. They will also play two matches, the first against local opposition on July 9 and then Dinamo Zagreb in the Toronto SkyDome, now known as the Rogers Centre, home of baseball giants the Blue Jays on July 12 [no jokes please! - DT].
It will be a special match for Croatian star Dado Prso as his boyhood heroes Hajduk Split have been traditional rivals of Dinamo for many years.
Dinamo have completed a disappointing season as they failed to make the top six before the league split and will not compete in Europe next season.
Only recently, however, they made a noticeable impact on Europe in the late 1990s under their previous name Croatia Zagreb.
They reached the third round of the UEFA Cup in 1997/98 then knocked Celtic out to qualify for the 1998/99 Champions League with Mark Viduka and Igor Biscan in their ranks. They qualified again the following season.
During this time they scored away wins over Ajax and Porto and drew with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The club was forced to sell many of their players after this exciting period due to financial problems and they are still fighting to get back to this level.
They do have a tricky Brazilian striker, Eduardo da Silva, who scored six goals in 22 games last season, but none of the players will be familiar to Rangers fans
Rangers were last across the Atlantic three years ago when McLeish prepared for the 2002/03 season in New Jersey and promptly won the Treble.
However, it is 21 years since the Light Blues were last in Canada. Jock Wallace took the team there and lost 2-0 to Toronto Blizzard in Hamilton, Ontario on June 15 with fringe player Eric Ferguson scoring in a 1-1 draw with Stuttgart in Toronto four days later.
On their return from Canada Rangers play Linfield on Belfast on July 16, Ipswich at Portman Road on July 19 and then Borussia Monchengladbach at Ibrox on July 23.
We will post ticket information on all of these games as soon as we have it.
http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~671490,00.html
Alex McLeish's title-winning squad will head out on July 4, returning on July 13, for an intensive training trip. They will also play two matches, the first against local opposition on July 9 and then Dinamo Zagreb in the Toronto SkyDome, now known as the Rogers Centre, home of baseball giants the Blue Jays on July 12 [no jokes please! - DT].
It will be a special match for Croatian star Dado Prso as his boyhood heroes Hajduk Split have been traditional rivals of Dinamo for many years.
Dinamo have completed a disappointing season as they failed to make the top six before the league split and will not compete in Europe next season.
Only recently, however, they made a noticeable impact on Europe in the late 1990s under their previous name Croatia Zagreb.
They reached the third round of the UEFA Cup in 1997/98 then knocked Celtic out to qualify for the 1998/99 Champions League with Mark Viduka and Igor Biscan in their ranks. They qualified again the following season.
During this time they scored away wins over Ajax and Porto and drew with Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The club was forced to sell many of their players after this exciting period due to financial problems and they are still fighting to get back to this level.
They do have a tricky Brazilian striker, Eduardo da Silva, who scored six goals in 22 games last season, but none of the players will be familiar to Rangers fans
Rangers were last across the Atlantic three years ago when McLeish prepared for the 2002/03 season in New Jersey and promptly won the Treble.
However, it is 21 years since the Light Blues were last in Canada. Jock Wallace took the team there and lost 2-0 to Toronto Blizzard in Hamilton, Ontario on June 15 with fringe player Eric Ferguson scoring in a 1-1 draw with Stuttgart in Toronto four days later.
On their return from Canada Rangers play Linfield on Belfast on July 16, Ipswich at Portman Road on July 19 and then Borussia Monchengladbach at Ibrox on July 23.
We will post ticket information on all of these games as soon as we have it.
http://www.rangers.premiumtv.co.uk/page/News/NewsDetail/0,,5~671490,00.html