LEON BALOGUN has been through the difficult times and endured the dark days during a career of highs and lows for club and country.
Now the defender stands just 90 minutes away from the ultimate achievement as Rangers target European glory and a place in the history books.
The stars have aligned for Balogun. Less than two years after leaving Wigan Athletic, he could be about to add Europa League and Scottish Cup medals to the Premiership title he won during his first term at Ibrox.
Initially signed as a replacement for the injured Nikola Katic, Balogun has gone on to establish himself as a mainstay of the Rangers squad under Steven Gerrard and Giovanni van Bronckhorst.
His career in Glasgow is testament to his mentality as well as his ability as levels have been moved up and glass ceilings shattered in remarkable fashion.
Ibrox was a cauldron of noise and colour as RB Leipzig were beaten on Thursday night. With Jimmy Bell watching down, Balogun achieved a feat to make himself and his former kit man proud.
"It is just unbelievable," Balogun said. "Firstly, it is something that we are incredibly proud of.
"I have had difficult periods in my career, I had no club for a certain period of time. I made it back to the Bundesliga after really just kicking my own behind.
"I had a loan spell at Wigan and then I came to this massive club. We won the league in my first season.
"To then get to the Europa League final? I don’t have the words. I am going to have to let it sink in.
"With the sad news that we received at the beginning of the week, it makes it that bit more special.
"I will let it sink in for a few days. But I am incredibly happy, I am incredibly proud. I am happy for every Ranger out there because I think that’s what we deserve as a club, as a family, and I am proud to be part of that.”
Goals from James Tavernier and Glen Kamara turned the tie and put Rangers in the driving seat as they cancelled out Leipzig's lead from the first leg last week.
And it was John Lundstram who became the goal hero as his strike nine minutes from time clinched the win following Christopher Nkunku's effort that brought the visitors level on aggregate.
The scenes witnessed on and off the park will go down in Ibrox folklore. Rangers needed their twelfth man and the home crowd stood up and delivered as Van Bronckhorst's side rose to the occasion.
Balogun said: “What can you say about European nights at Ibrox? I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I almost expected it.
"Somebody texted me before the game and I literally texted them back ‘tonight will be a special night, you will see’. We had a little bit of drama with us conceding a goal.
"But then we came back and scored again through Lunny. I said to him on the pitch ‘could have imagined at the start of the season that you would have this ending to the season more or less?’
"Our fans are just unbelievable. I have seen some places in my career, but nothing comes close to this.
“I am not going to say it is easy, but it is not too hard when you have this incredible support behind you. Everybody knew that because of what happened at the beginning of the week that we might need more and they gave us that throughout the whole 90 minutes.
"It was a very special night. We knew that it would be before. That is how we go into these games.
"We said before the first game in Leipzig ‘we just need a result, if we can bring a good result back to Ibrox anything can happen’. We know it is not easy.
"We know the energy we have here at home, with the fans, with the supporters. We had that little bit of extra motivation with Jimmy as well.”
The incentives are now clear for Rangers. Eintracht Frankfurt stand in their way in Seville and Hearts are their adversaries at Hampden.
The reign as Premiership champions will end in the coming days but this month offers opportunities that few could ever have imagined possible.
It will be an emotional end to a unique season. History awaits the Light Blues and Balogun knows how significant success would be for a range of reasons at Ibrox.
“Yeah, we have two finals," Balogun said. "We couldn’t really ask for too much more. I think we have to just take that in.
"I mentioned Jimmy Bell earlier. When you think about that it’s puts everything else aside and gives you a different perspective. I think we have just done the perfect thing to honour him.
"We all wish he could have been here tonight. He was looking forward to the game like no one else.
"Now we have to go all the way. That has to be the absolute target, the number one priority.
“I am lost for words a little bit, It is hard to describe. It is just unbelievable. If you think about the fact that we didn’t win our first three games in the group stage, but now we are going to the final.
"We have the chance to win the Europa League. There were loads of things going on before the game, obviously the sad news about Jimmy Bell. That makes the win that much more special.
"Everybody is just really, really excited. It is an incredibly proud moment for everybody connected to this club.
"That is what everybody connected to this club deserves. We worked hard for it, it wasn’t an easy game. But I think we made the most out of it with the help as usual of our incredible support.”
