A LAST a burst of sunshine has broken through the dark clouds of uncertainty that have been hanging over Ibrox in recent times.
Now all that is forgotten and a place in tomorrow’s Champions League draw awaits Alex McLeish’s men following a courageous and well-deserved win in the Danish capital.
The history books will show that Mikel Arteta and Shota Arveladze were the goalscorers that catapulted Rangers into the lucrative group stages but this was a night for team spirit and collective effort.
If it were his last game for the club, then Ferguson bowed out with another effective performance in the heart of the midfield alongside Arteta who continues to improve with every match.
McLeish will now chap the chairman’s door tomorrow to ask for the finance to strengthen his squad but he will be more than happy with the effort and passion put in by the men he currently has at his disposal.
With Craig Moore failing to recover in time from a hamstring injury, Henning Berg and Zurab Khivanishvili were once more paired together at the heart of the defence and performed well against the lively Copenhagen strikeforce.
Khivanishvili was given the unenviable task of man-marking the sprightly Sibusiso Zuma, with the South African a potent menace any time the Danes poured out of defence.
On the whole, the Georgian coped admirably although he was forced to bring his nemesis down just outside the box after just 10 minutes when Zuma was threatening to launch a shot on goal.
From the resulting free kick, Ole Tobiasen fired an effort just over the crossbar as Rangers reeled under some sustained early Copenhagen pressure.
The home crowd – kitted out to a man in the dazzling white FC kit as if waiting to shoot a washing powder commercial – had welcomed the teams with a flood of colour and noise and were not slow to make themselves heard anytime they sensed a perceived injustice against their team during the 90 minutes.
They were howling in derision when the two Zs – Zuma and Zurab – were both booked midway through the first half and played their part in earning Fernando Ricksen a yellow card close to the touchline as the first half came to a crashing close.
Rangers by that time had clawed their back into a match that had seemed to be sliding away from then and, while shots were not exactly raining in on goal, the Light Blues were certainly putting together some pretty passing movements.
A Ronald de Boer shot that drifted tamely wide was the closest they had came to troubling goalkeeper Balazs Raboczki in the first half but just five minutes into the second period and the keeper was picking the ball out of his net as Rangers went in front.
A Michael Ball free kick was spilled to the on-rushing Michael Mols whose attempts to shoot on goal were thwarted by a shove from Urmas Rooba.
As 30,000 home fans once more whistled their disapproval, Arteta calmly slammed the ball past the keeper from 12 yards.
Mols – who had selflessly patrolled a lone path up front – was replaced by Steven Thompson soon after while FC, now needing a goal to stay in the tie, brought on Alvaro Santos and Jorgen Pettersson for Todi Jonsson and Erik Mykland.
The Danes seemed to have a half-decent shout for a penalty of their own when Berg and Zuma tangled after 67 minutes but Croatian referee Zelijko Siric was unconvinced and waved play on.
Shota Arveladze speared an ambitious overhead kick past the post before Santos – on his FC debut – passed up a glorious chance to cover himself in instant glory when he mis-controlled Zuma’s though ball deep in the Rangers’ box.
More substitutions followed – Paolo Vanoli and Bob Malcolm on for Rangers and Peter Moller for FC – as the Light Blues tried to hold on to their hard-earned lead.
With just seven minutes remaining, FC equalised. A long ball from Hjalte Norregaard was nodded on by Moller and Santos nipped in to stroke the ball under Stefan Klos.
Just when all seemed lost, Arveladze popped up with a £10-million winning goal. Ball’s long throw was nodded on by Christian Nerlinger where the unmarked Georgian volleyed the ball past the stranded Raboczki.
The hordes of Rangers fans celebrated knowing there was no way FC could score twice to win the tie in the four minutes that remained.
The promised land of the Champions League now awaits.
FC COPENHAGEN (4-4-2): 16 Raboczki; 17 Tobiasen (Moller 76), 4 Svensson, 5 Albrechtsen, 3 Rooba; 25 Norregaard, 7 Mykland (Pettersson 63), 8 Nielsen, 9 Roll; 12 Jonsson (Santos 63), 10 Zuma.
Subs not used: Kihlstedt, Zivkovic, Christiansen, Svard
Booked: Zuma (28), Roll (44), Norregaard (90)
RANGERS (4-4-2): 1 Klos; 2 Ricksen, 25 Berg (Malcolm 72), 15 Khizanishvili, 18 Ball; 23 Arteta, 8 Nerlinger, 6 Ferguson, 7 Arveladze; 14 de Boer (Vanoli 74), 10 Mols (Thompson 61)
Subs not used: McGregor, Capucho, Ross, Hughes
Booked: Khizanishvili (28), Ricksen (45), Ferguson (58), Arveladze (73)
Man of the Match: Mikel Arteta