The Official Site of Maurice Edu

Mon, Sep 15th 2008, 13:45

Mo makes Rangers debut

Despite only having trained with his new team twice, Mo made his Rangers debut this Saturday against Kilmarnock. Mo Edu looked comfortable in the defensive midfield position, despite learning that he would get the starting nod just moments before kickoff.

“It was a surprise to me that I was called in but I had tried to prepare myself if I did get called in,” Edu said. “I wanted to be ready and fortunately for me I got the call. I felt I did OK in the game but the most important thing was the win and that’s what we got.”

Kevin Thomson was set to start alongside Pedro Mendes in the midfield, but Thomson failed a pre-match fitness test, and Edu was selected to make his debut.

“It was a great experience,” Maurice said after the game. “The fans are amazing. Their support was unbelievable and it’s definitely going to help us through the course of the season.”

Mo’s best look of the match came in the first half, when he found fellow American Damarcus Beasley with a pass that sprung him in for a chance on goal, but Beasley hesitated and was tackled before he was able to get his shot on target. After allowing an early goal, the Ranger’s defense tightened up and held their ground as the offense was able to muster up just enough to win the game.

“It was great to get a win in my first game, especially as we had to battle back from a goal down,” Edu said. “But I think that just shows the confidence that the team has and the strength and character within the squad.”

Now that Mo has a break from international duty and all the transfer proceedings are behind him, he can focus on his role with his new club.

“It has been really busy going back and forth but I am here now and it is going to be good to just train with the guys for the next few weeks without any international distractions,” Edu told the Times of London. “I did not expect to be playing against Kilmarnock. I’ve been everywhere in the last few weeks since coming back from Beijing to Glasgow to talk to Rangers. Then I went to Toronto, then on to Guatemala, then back here to sign, then Cuba and Miami last week for the World Cup qualifiers – I think some people think I’m trying to get free flights.”

Game recap….