Pršo down and out for Rangers
Thursday, February 23, 2006
Article summary
Dado Pršo was left to rue a costly mistake and a second-leg suspension as Rangers FC came from behind twice to earn a 2-2 draw against Villarreal CF.
Article body
Early lead
The Croatia striker - normally such a talismanic figure for Alex McLeish's side - gave Villarreal an early advantage when he handled in the box to concede a penalty on seven minutes, a gift gratefully received by Juan Román Riquelme. "Tonight really wasn't my night," Pršo told uefa.com. "I didn't jump quickly enough at the corner. I wanted to push the Villarreal player back a bit with my hand, but the ball was there and it's very, very disappointing for me."
Yellow card
The evening would get even worse for the 31-year-old, with a late booking ruling him out of the return leg at Villarreal's El Madrigal. Pršo, however, is still confident Rangers can progress to the quarter-finals. The Glasgow team showed tremendous spirit to fight their way back into the tie with a breathtaking first-half equaliser from Peter Løvenkrands, before forcing an own goal from Juan Manuel Peña eight minutes from time to cancel out Diego Forlán's second strike for the visitors.
Confident mood
"We can do it," Pršo added emphatically. "In football you never know what can happen. Tonight the penalty went against us; next week it might go the other way. We must be a little bit stronger and not concede a goal over there, but a draw gives us a chance."
Immediate impact
Thomas Buffel is equally optimistic Rangers can cause an upset against the Primera División outfit. The Belgian international played a key role in Rangers' late leveller, coming off the substitutes' bench to fire in a speculative shot that deflected off Peña's outstretched leg before looping past goalkeeper Sebastián Viera and into the net. According to the 25-year-old, it will be difficult for Rangers without Pršo in the return, but the draw also poses a problem for Villarreal in terms of how they approach the 7 March encounter.
'Chase the game'
"It's going to be strange for Villarreal next week," Buffel told uefa.com. "We know what we are going to do but are they going to sit back or take the game to us? Even if we score in the last minute, they will have to chase another goal. That suits us. I'm just glad it was 2-2 and we can still make something beautiful over there."
