Rangers Reach First European Final Since 1972

As any sports fan knows, the emotion you feel seeing your team reach a major final is overwhelming. Last night the team I follow, Glasgow Rangers, made it to their first major final in my lifetime - and this morning I’m still filled with delight.

On the domestic front Rangers are a hugely successful football club in Scotland but when they step up to the major European championships they tend to be out of their depth - but not this season. They had battled against the odds to see off stiff opposition from across Europe to reach the semi finals of the UEFA Cup in which they faced Italian side Fiorentina.

After a scoreless draw last week at home in the first leg last night a trip to Italy gave us hope in that if the game was a score draw Rangers would qualify on the away goals rule. Scoring away from home was what had got us this far in the competition, so hopes were high. The match ended 0-0 after the regulation 90 minutes. The score remained the same for the duration of the 30 minutes extra time and everything hung on a penalty shootout.

Talk about nerve racking. Our team captain, showing leadership, stepped up to take the first penalty - damn, the keeper saved it!!! I felt drained. Totally drained, the dream was slipping away.

I already gave the outcome away in the post title but I’ll let you watch the video of how events panned out and in just under two weeks I could well be missing from action drunk and happy if we lift that trophy.