Ecuador World Cup star Jeremy Sarmiento's father has revealed his son could have signed for Rangers when he was a youngster.
The Brighton winger was eligible to play for Spain, England and Ecuador and chose to play for the South American nation and was called up for the Qatar tournament. He arrived at Premier League high-fliers Brighton last year after spells at Charlton Athletic as a kid and Benfica. But his dad Leonel revealed the 20-year-old could have signed for the Ibrox club after he was offered a contract from Rangers when he was younger.
He said: "We moved to London when he was seven and he played a lot of street football there. When he was older, he got noticed and he had four offers of contracts from clubs - Chelsea, Charlton Athletic, Crystal Palace and Rangers. He wanted to stay in London and signed for Charlton. He had the opportunity to play Under 19s for Ecuador, Spain and England. I always told him he would play in a World Cup one day. And he has managed it with Ecuador - my country."
Meanwhile, Borna Barisic insists he will not complain if he is dropped from Croatia's World Cup opener against Morocco this week.
The 30-year-old has won 28 caps for his country, but faces a battle with Stuttgart star Borna Sosa to get the left back position for their opening game against Morocco. However, Barisic insists if he is only named on the bench, he will just get on with it.
He said: "In football, sometimes you're up and sometimes you're a little down. This is still a national team, I don't see it as a club. Obviously every player wants to play and I do too, but what I need to do is get myself 100 per cent fit, which I am and give my best in every training session.
The most important thing is the team's result. I don't put any pressure on myself, the manager picks the team and that's the way it has to be, When it comes to Croatia, I understand everything a little differently, I don't see the role of the substitute as something bad.
I am ready to take responsibility if necessary. Of course I am, I'm physically excellent and I play continuously every three or four days. Morocco are a great national team. When you watch their matches, you realise that they are not here by chance. The Moroccans have a team that should be highly respected, it will certainly not be easy for us.
We have good experience of playing against Africans at the World Cup, but this is a new competition, there are specific weather conditions and I expect a difficult match for sure. They deserve respect."
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