Jorg Albertz insists his famous Rangers goal celebrations in Eindhoven were for his family in the stand – not a signal to his sceptic in the dugout. Boss Dick Advocaat benched Albertz on another big Euro night but the midfielder came on to hit an 84th-minute winner.
And the German hero claims he pointed to his name on his shirt for the elated Albertz clan in the crowd. The Ibrox fan favourite admits this week’s Philips Stadium mission brings back brilliant memories. Albertz was gutted to be a sub in September, 1999, after scoring in a draw with Bayern Munich and twice against St Johnstone the previous week.
But an injury to Claudio Reyna in the first half brought Der Hammer into the action. And his stunning left-foot volley clinched a Champions League group stage victory. Albertz recalled: “At first, I was very disappointed not to start. As a professional, there’s something wrong if I was okay about it.
“Eindhoven is just over an hour from Monchengladbach. So my mum, dad, brother and some friends went to the game. Claudio got injured, I played the rest of the game and scored just before the end. That’s a dream come true. It was an important goal to get three points from an incredible game in a fantastic atmosphere, in front of so many Rangers supporters.
“Mikey (Mols) went through on the right-hand side, tried to score himself and it was a deflection. The ball was high in the air. I came from the back and was fortunate to be in the right place to hit it and score. Scoring was a fantastic feeling for me, knowing exactly where my family were. That’s why I went to the corner and pointed at the name on my back. I knew they were there.
“It had nothing to do with me being on the bench first then scoring the goal. I just wanted to do that with my family there. When you see the goal on TV pictures, they show that Dick doesn’t seem very happy. At the end of the day, his team won so I guess he was happy – but maybe not for the boy who scored!
“Under Dick I couldn’t be 100 per cent sure of starting ANY game. To be fair, so many things can be said about him from my point of view but he was one of the best coaches I had in my career. And go through that incredible Rangers squad. He could’ve picked any other player instead of me.”
Taking six points off PSV still wasn’t enough to help Rangers advance from a tough group with Bayern and Valencia. Albertz says that failure is “still doing my head in after all these years”.
He’ll be thrilled if old team-mate Gio van Bronckhorst plots a path back for Rangers to join the elite. Albertz said: “Another 1-0 win in Eindhoven would be absolutely magic. I’m very happy Gio is the Rangers coach for this job because he will know Eindhoven inside out, what to expect from them at home.
“He’ll have a plan to go there and the boys are capable of winning. Gio has the big experience. Throughout his playing career he trained under so many absolutely outstanding coaches. He’s got his own way to go about things as well. It always seems to me that he has a Plan A but, if that doesn’t work, he can react.
“He’s got a Plan B too - and it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s got a pretty good Plan C. How you react in situations and read the game is what makes a great coach. Gio can change things. He proved all that in the last. European campaign. I’m positive about this game.”
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