Rangers Fc Grazer Ak
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PRESS KITS Group stage - Group F - Matchday 3 Thursday, 25 November 2004 - 19:45 (local time) Ibrox - Glasgow RANGERS FC GRAZER AK MATCH OFFICIALS Referee Olegário Benquerença (POR) Assistant referees Bertino Cunha Miranda (POR), José Carlos Neves Ramalho (POR) Fourth official Mario Costa Mendes (POR) UEFA delegate Ellert B. Schram (ISL) MATCH BACKGROUND Unbeaten sides meet at Ibrox Rangers FC have made an immediate impact in Group F with the biggest winning margin of the opening round games in their 5-0 home success against KS Amica Wronki. Kollmann treble After being exempt from the second round of games, Rangers now meet the group leaders Grazer AK who followed their opening round 0-0 draw at AJ Auxerre with a Roland Kollmann hat-trick in the 3-1 victory against Amica in Austria. First meeting Rangers have never met GAK in UEFA club competitions, but have met Austrian opposition. The first occasion was 40 years ago in the second round of the 1964/65 Champion Clubs’ Cup, when Rangers beat SK Rapid Wien 3-0 on aggregate, but were to lose to eventual winners FC Internazionale Milano in the quarter-finals. In the 200/01 UEFA Champions League, Rangers met GAK’s city rivals SK Sturm Graz in Group D during the first group stage of the competition. In the opening game, Rangers won 5-0 at Ibrox with five different scorers, but the Austrians gained revenge in the return leg with a 2-0 win. Sturm Graz won the group to progress to the next stage, while Rangers were denied second place after losing to Galatasaray SK on the head-to-head ruling. UEFA Champions League exit GAK, the Austrian Bundesliga and Cup double winners, will be meeting Scottish opposition for the first time, but they have met British opponents already this season. In the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, GAK met Liverpool FC, and, after conceding two goals to Steven Gerrard in a 2-0 home defeat, the Austrians secured a memorable victory at Anfield with a Mario Tokic winner. Their impressive form shown at Anfield has continued into the UEFA Cup. 1/10 16:13:18 uefa.com Matchday 3 - Group F - Thursday, 25 November 2004 - PRESS KITS RANGERS-GAK PLAYERS PROFILES Rangers FC Goalkeepers No Name Nat. DoB 1 Stefan Klos GER 16.08.1971 22 Allan McGregor SCO 31.01.1982 30 Graeme Smith SCO 08.06.1983 44 Lee Robinson ENG 02.07.1986 52 Callum Reidford SCO 26.05.1987 Defenders No Name Nat. DoB 2 Fernando Ricksen HOL 27.07.1976 3 Craig Moore AUS 12.12.1975 4 Jean-Alain Boumsong FRA 14.12.1979 5 Marvin Andrews TTO 22.12.1975 12 Robert Malcolm SCO 12.11.1980 15 Zurab Khizanishvili GEO 06.10.1981 16 Paolo Vanoli ITA 12.08.1972 18 Michael Ball ENG 02.10.1979 20 Alan Hutton SCO 30.11.1984 21 Maurice Ross SCO 03.02.1981 24 Grégory Vignal FRA 19.07.1981 33 Alexander Walker SCO 25.04.1984 34 Fraser Coyle SCO 19.02.1985 35 Brian McLean SCO 28.02.1985 37 Steven Smith SCO 30.08.1985 39 Gary MacKenzie SCO 15.10.1985 43 Graeme Watson SCO 06.05.1986 46 Steven Campbell SCO 20.08.1986 Midfielders No Name Nat. DoB 8 Alex Rae SCO 30.09.1969 11 Gavin Rae SCO 28.11.1977 14 Dragan Mladenovic YUG 16.02.1976 17 Chris Burke SCO 02.12.1983 27 Stephen Hughes SCO 14.11.1982 36 Marc Kalenga FRA 18.03.1985 40 Charles Adam SCO 10.12.1985 41 Andrew Dick SCO 25.02.1986 50 Daryl Boyd SCO 14.04.1987 51 Brian Gilmour SCO 08.05.1987 53 Scott Agnew SCO 11.07.1987 Forwards No Name Nat. DoB 7 Archil Arveladze GEO 22.02.1973 7 Shota Arveladze GEO 22.02.1973 2/10 16:13:18 uefa.com Matchday 3 - Group F - Thursday, 25 November 2004 - PRESS KITS RANGERS-GAK 9 Dado Pršo CRO 05.11.1974 10 Nacho Novo ESP 26.03.1979 19 Steven Thompson SCO 14.10.1978 26 Peter Løvenkrands DEN 29.01.1980 31 Hamed Namouchi FRA 14.02.1984 32 Tom Brighton SCO 28.03.1984 42 Robert Davidson SCO 25.03.1986 45 Ross McCormack SCO 18.08.1986 49 John Johnston SCO 26.03.1987 Coach No Name Nat. DoB Alex McLeish SCO 21.01.1959 Grazer AK Goalkeepers No Name Nat. DoB 1 Andreas Schranz AUT 02.05.1979 13 Franz Almer AUT 23.09.1970 30 Heinz Lienhart AUT 04.03.1979 32 Jürgen Rindler AUT 10.04.1986 Defenders No Name Nat. DoB 2 Gregor Pötscher AUT 26.03.1973 3 Mario Sonnleitner AUT 08.10.1986 4 Mario Tokic CRO 23.07.1975 5 Anton Ehmann AUT 17.12.1972 7 Joachim Standfest AUT 30.05.1980 14 Michael Müller AUT 29.07.1985 16 Dominik Sobl AUT 30.09.1986 18 Emanuel Pogatetz AUT 16.01.1983 25 Mario Majstorovic YUG 01.03.1977 27 Thomas Lechner AUT 22.10.1985 Midfielders No Name Nat. DoB 6 Dieter Ramusch AUT 31.10.1969 8 Samir Muratovic BHZ 25.02.1976 11 Martin Amerhauser AUT 23.07.1974 15 David Sencar AUT 29.01.1984 17 Daniel Pirker AUT 02.12.1986 19 Matthias Dollinger AUT 12.09.1979 20 René Aufhauser AUT 21.06.1976 22 Mario Bazina CRO 08.09.1975 23 Gernot Sick AUT 31.10.1978 24 Stefan Erkinger AUT 01.09.1981 26 Gernot Plassnegger AUT 23.03.1978 3/10 16:13:18 uefa.com Matchday 3 - Group F - Thursday, 25 November 2004 - PRESS KITS RANGERS-GAK Forwards No Name Nat. DoB 10 Alen Škoro BHZ 30.03.1981 12 Philipp Six AUT 25.08.1985 21 Dominic Hassler AUT 30.03.1981 28 Roland Kollmann AUT 08.10.1976 Coach No Name Nat. DoB Walter Schachner AUT 01.02.1957 4/10 16:13:18 uefa.com Matchday 3 - Group F - Thursday, 25 November 2004 - PRESS KITS RANGERS-GAK DOMESTIC FORMGUIDE Wins keep challengers in good heart (Monday, 22 November 2004) Rangers FC were the most significant winners of the Group F contenders at the weekend although KS Amica Wronki and AZ Alkmaar also did their confidence no harm at all. Rangers Rangers prepared for their meeting with group leaders Grazer AK with a 2-0 win against Celtic FC in the Glasgow derby at Ibrox. Nacho Novo opened the scoring from the penalty spot and Dado Pršo doubled the lead with a header. Celtic finished with nine men and the victory leaves Rangers just one point behind their rivals at the top of the Scottish Premier League. Once again Alex Rae was preferred to Bob Malcolm in midfield, with Grégory Vignal in at left-back. Winger Peter Løvenkrands was replaced by Shota Arveladze at half-time and later Michael Ball was introduced for Vignal and Malcolm for Zurab Khizanishvili. Striker Steven Thompson has recovered from an ankle knock while Serbia and Montenegro midfielder Dragan Mladenovic could be included in the squad after playing for his country last week. Amica Amica signed off for the Polish Ekstraklasa winter break with a 1-0 win at KS Cracovia. The goal came in the 73rd minute from 17-year-old substitute Filip Burkhardt and followed a quality cross from Jacek Dembinski. Coach Maciej Skorza restored midfielder Krysztof Kowalczyk for the second half while in central defence Piotr Dziewicki replaced Michal Stasiak. Amica lie in fourth place, eleven points behind Wisla Kraków. Alkmaar Alkmaar maintained their challenge behind PSV Eindhoven by beating RKC Waalwijk 3-0 at home. Captain Danny Landzaat struck first in the 16th minute with a terrific lob over the goalkeeper and Barry van Galen and Stein Huysegems added further goals in the second half. The game was coach Co Adriaanse's 400th in the Eredivisie. Earlier in the week Van Galen became the oldest Dutch international debutant. Joris Mathijsen also made his national-team debut in the Andorra match as a substitute while Landzaat started. Finland defender Juha Reini is still out with an achilles injury and no return date has yet been set. Auxerre AJ Auxerre's 3-1 reverse at RC Strasbourg meant they forfeited third place in Ligue 1 to FC Sochaux- Montbéliard on goal average. Defenders Jean-Sébastien Jaurès and Jean-Pascal Mignot returned after long-term lay-offs but playmaker Yann Lachuer dropped out just before the start with a groin problem. Winger Bonaventure Kalou and defender Johan Radet will miss the visit of Amica on 2 December because of knee injuries. GAK The Austrian Bundesliga's big match, featuring the country's UEFA Cup representatives FK Austria Wien and GAK, ended goalless. GAK could consider themselves more fortunate because Austria hit the post twice in the second half. It was the eighth time in a row that the home side could not force a victory in this particular fixture and it leaves GAK in fourth place in the table. Rangers lead resurgent trio (Monday, 15 November 2004) Rangers FC have made it 13 matches unbeaten in Scotland while AJ Auxerre and AZ Alkmaar are also applying pressure in France and the Netherlands. Things are a little tougher on the domestic front for Grazer AK and KS Amica Wronki, however. Rangers Rangers extended their good run with a 1-0 Scottish Premier League win at Hibernian FC on Sunday. Dado Pršo scored from the penalty spot, but missed a second spot-kick in the final minute.