CLUB football takes a back seat over the next month as the eyes of the world rest on the European Championships in Germany.
Rangers will be represented in the form of midfielder Ianis Hagi, who has been included in Edward Iordanescu’s Romania squad.
Three years ago the Light Blues were five-strong at the European Championships, with Jon McLaughlin and Nathan Patterson – who would later depart Ibrox for a then-club record fee – representing Scotland at their first major international tournament in 23 years.
Elsewhere, Borna Barisic was a member of the Croatia squad who exited the tournament in the last 16 stage to an inspired Spain extra-time victory in Copenhagen, while Filip Helander featured on familiar terrain at Hampden Park as Sweden bowed out to Ukraine at the same stage.
Glen Kamara, meanwhile, dazzled for Finland in a difficult group involving eventual semi-finalists Denmark, Belgium and Russia.
And yet you need to rewind 36 years to uncover Rangers’ first representative at the European Championships, with Chris Woods’ inclusion in Bobby Robson’s England squad marking a significant milestone.
Although Peter Shilton was the nominal No.1 goalkeeper, the Gers stopper – who made the move to Ibrox under Graeme Souness in 1986 – was given the nod between the posts for the final group stage game against the USSR.
The influx of high-grade international talent in the early 90s ensured Rangers were well-stocked at major international tournaments, with seven representatives at both the 1992 and 1996 European Championships.
Oleksiy Mykhaylychenko and Oleh Kuznetsov were two important members of the Ukraine squad in 1992 – with the former sporting the captain’s armband – while Andy Goram, Richard Gough, David McPherson, Ally McCoist and Stuart McCall answered the call from their country after Scotland booked their return to the European Championships.
Perhaps most memorable, however, was the source of the eventual winners in Sweden as Denmark defeated Germany in the final.
Among the Danish squad on that famous evening was a certain Brian Laudrup, who would make the move to Ibrox two years later and the rest was, as they say, history.
Fast forward four years and the European Championships in 1996 were hosted south of the border as, remarkably, Scotland were pitted against England in the group stages.
Indeed, there were as many as five Rangers representatives across both squads, with Paul Gascoigne facing off against Gordon Durie, Goram, McCoist and McCall on a baking hot day at the old Wembley.
Both nations arrived at the encounter on matchday two of the group stages level on points after draws with the Netherlands and Switzerland respectively, but it would be the Scots who suffered heartbreak against a star-studded English outfit.
Alan Shearer opened the scoring for Terry Venables’ side before Gary McAllister – who would later assist Steven Gerrard in a coaching capacity at Ibrox – was thwarted by David Seaman from the penalty spot.
“I remember going down the tunnel at half-time and Gascoigne throwing [Stuart] McCall his jersey and saying ‘tell Coisty he can have the second half one,’” McCoist once remarked.
The scoreline then gave rise to one of the most iconic moments in European Championships history when Gascoigne produced a sumptuous moment of individual quality by receiving a pass inside, lifting the ball over a hapless Colin Hendry – whose career would take him via Rangers – and dispatching a low finish under Gers teammate Goram.
“I got stick for three months about how they [Scotland] were going to beat us, and when I scored I got 50 photocopies of the goal and put it on his [Goram’s] peg,” Gascoigne remarked years later. “Until he said ‘do it again and you’re getting one in the kipper,’ so I left it!”
There was scant consolation for Scotland as McCoist scored one of the goals of the tournament in the group finale against Switzerland, but it wasn’t enough to send the side through at the expense of the Netherlands.
England’s campaign ended at the last four stage when Germany prevailed in a penalty shootout, with Gascoigne’s exit succeeding Denmark’s departure from the tournament as reigning champions.
With Erik Bo Andersen also involved, Laudrup dazzled in the group stages for the Danes as he netted three times in as many games. He was, however, powerless as his side were overrun by Croatia in the last 16 weeks later.
There was Dutch representation at the European Championships in 2000 through Giovanni van Bronckhorst and Arthur Numan, while Tugay was a part of the Turkey side which reached the quarter-finals of the competition.
It was also a tournament in which Ronald and Frank de Boer, who would later represent Rangers, combined for three goals across the group stages.
The latter de Boer brother was also among the Netherlands squad at the European Championships four years later, where he was joined in the Rangers contingent by Peter Lovenkrands who, at 24-years-old, was a late call-up to the Denmark squad.
Both sides advanced to the knockout stages, with de Boer and the Netherlands narrowly missing out on a spot in the final against Greece in a 2-1 defeat to hosts Portugal in the last four.
The expansion to a 32-team competition in recent years means the group stage is often alive right to the final game and, in a group containing Ukraine, Belgium and Slovakia, Hagi and his teammates will fancy their chances of progressing to the knockout stages.
Romania kick off their group campaign against Ukraine on Monday as the 25-year-old midfielder looks to add his name to the list of Rangers players over the years who have represented their country with distinction at a major international tournament.