South Africa gives Edu incentive to get a run in Rangers team

IN THE changing rooms at Ibrox and Murray Park, there has recently been some gentle banter between a couple of players. Not about leagues or cups or even club finances, but about a tournament most Scots will view with less than total passion this summer.

If they can stay fit, Maurice Edu and Madjid Bougherra are set to play for the USA and Algeria respectively in the World Cup in South Africa. They will be part of a "Scottish" contingent representing the SPL in the absence of our national team, and the chances are that the two Rangers men will play against each other on the biggest stage in football.

Their two nations have been drawn in the same group – along with England and Slovenia – and are due to meet at 4pm on 23 June in Tshwane/Pretoria. Barring injury, Bougherra seems a certainty to play for Algeria after his impressive run for Les Fennecs (the Desert Foxes) in the African Cup of Nations, but Edu knows he has to prove himself match fit to make it to the summit he dreamed of.

"The fact that it is so close and is a realistic possibility is driving me on," said Edu. "When you are young, you dream big, and you want to play in the Champions League and you want to represent your country in the World Cup. For it to be so close is a definite motivation for me to work hard every day. Madjid and I have been joking all the time about it, and I talked to him particularly after the African Cup of Nations, when he did well for them."

The match will almost certainly be crucial for survival in the tournament, though Edu begs to differ. "Some people have been making out that England are going to be clear-cut winner of the group and it's a matter of who is going to get second place, but I think everything is up for grabs in the group."

USA head coach Bob Bradley went out of his way to assure 11-times capped Edu that he is still in his plans for South Africa. "He was over here a few weeks ago and I spoke with him a little, and we have a camp coming up next month in Holland, so hopefully I can be involved in that. He told me I would have played in the Confederations Cup matches, and obviously that it had been hard to monitor me because I had been out so long, but he said some encouraging and positive things and I have to take from that what I can and use it as motivation."

The 23-year-old former Rookie of the Year in America's Major Soccer League signed for Rangers from Toronto in August 2008 on a five-year-contract for a fee of 2.6million. Due mainly to injuries, his career at Ibrox has been stop-start since then, and he was unable to establish himself in the first team until late last season when he served up a string of impressive performances.

His manager, Walter Smith, appreciated his efforts last year and hopes for more of the same. "He showed in the latter stages of last season how good a player he is," said Smith. "So he has just got to get playing, which is an awkward circumstance coming into the final stages of the season."

Although he gained a league winner's medal, a serious knee ligament injury sustained against Dundee United on the day Rangers won the 2008-09 title turned out to be worse than originally thought, and Edu missed the Scottish Cup final victory over Falkirk and did not play this season until the crushing 4-1 away win over Hibs in late December.

Another injury, this time to an ankle, interrupted his progress in mid-January – "it was very frustrating," he said – so the midweek appearance against St Mirren was his second comeback of the season.

"It is really about starting again after all the injuries," said Edu. "It's always difficult coming back, but it's great to get a couple of games under my belt and I felt pretty good out there fitness-wise.

"Now that I am back healthy, I hope I can stay that way and get a good run of games from here on in. There's still a lot of games to be played and I am trying to make sure that I am sharp and that my fitness is up to the mark.

"We are still involved in three trophies and of course this summer we have the World Cup. I am forgetting everything that's behind me and just looking at what's in front of me."

Edu knows he faces competition for a place in the Ranger starting XI even with familiar faces like Barry Ferguson gone. "There have been a lot of capable players who have come in and done well over the season so I always knew it would be difficult to get back in there, especially when the team's doing well. I just want to get more games."

Edu emphasised that consistency was the key to Rangers finishing the season well, and no doubt the fans who saw him play so well at the end of last season are hoping for a repeat dose from the midfielder. If they get it from the American, the chances are that California-born Edu of Glasgow Rangers will play for the USA in South Africa.

And as the player confirmed, he does know how popular he would be in Scotland were he to score the winner for the USA against you know who.