Gers duo could face AFCON battle if veteran's prediction comes true
03/21/2025 08:30 AM
Rangers are casting their net wider than ever before with Nils Koppen shopping in every corner of the globe to secure bargains and unearth gems.
It has worked so far in terms of Jefte and Hamza Igamane with bad luck preventing Oscar Cortes from getting the chance to fulfil the potential he showed as one of the best players at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup and Copa America.
The Rangers squad will be light on the ground at Auchenhowie over the next couple of weeks with 11 players on international duty with two of them being tipped to face each other on the big stage.
Igamane has been picked by Morocco for the first time and will be joined on international duty by Mohamed Diomande with the Ivory Coast after receiving a late call-up.
Speaking to Afrik Foot, the Elephants' veteran Jean Michaël Seri reckons that there could be a Rangers reunion in this year's African Cup of Nations.
Rangers duo tipped to face off in African Cup of Nations
Diomande chose Ivory Coast over Ghana, but he wasn't quite established enough to be selected for the country of his birth's 2023 AFCON success.
If he keeps up his current level of performance though, Seri could well be watching the Rangers No.10 from the stands.
Asked if the Ivory Coast could repeat their 2023 triumph, Seri was optimistic, he also named their biggest rivals:
“I say that nothing is impossible. We will have to be well, forget what we did at the previous CAN and tell ourselves that we are putting our title on the line and that we must do everything to keep it.
“It will be very difficult, Morocco, who will be playing at home, seems very well equipped to me. But we can do it again. I think we can, that we have a good chance. I am not worried.
“We’ll have to arrive with a lot of humility and forget what we did in 2023. When you stick to what you did in the previous AFCON, that’s when you go wrong.
“We experienced it in 2017 after the success in 2015, we were knocked out in the first round. Algeria experienced that too after 2019. We’ll really have to switch things up.”
How Rangers could benefit from international recognition
Rangers fans haven't even been able to watch their players represent Scotland in recent seasons with Nathan Patterson and then John Souttar the only consistent members of Steve Clarke's squad.
There are others, like Billy Gilmour, Liam Kelly, Kenny McLean and Lewis Ferguson who have a Rangers connection, but it isn't the same.
Seeing two Ibrox heroes go head to head in a major international final would be huge for the club and for the player training model.
Clubs love nothing better than to buy a player who has just done well at a major tournament.
Just getting players selected, like Diomande and Igamane, shows that it is a club where ambitions can be fulfilled, maybe dreams can come true on the biggest stage too.
