AMSTERDAM – Over the first season-and-a-half of his Rangers tenure, Maurice Edu triumphantly raised two Scottish Premier League crowns and a League Cup. What he did not do was compete in a single European tournament match.
Due to some untimely injuries and selection woes, the 24-year-old Southern California native's European adventure was confined to Scotland.
This term, Edu has scored in both Champions League and Europa League play, the latter a 90th-minute tie-saver at Sporting Lisbon. He now finds himself preparing for Thursday's round-of-16 second leg tussle with Dutch power PSV Eindhoven at Ibrox.
As well as visiting the Farmers and Sporting, he's also had the pleasure of playing at the vaunted arenas of Manchester United and Valencia. In other words, you can now consider his adventure properly European.
"The atmosphere in the different stadiums are amazing, and we have good presence there as we have a good number of traveling supporters," Edu told MLSsoccer.com from Glasgow.
[inlinenode:330877]"It's great getting the chance to play against the best teams in the world and test yourself against them. You dream of playing in these competitions, so I'm just glad it's become a reality for me."
As for the current matter at hand, Edu was satisfied with a gritty first-leg performance at PSV that ended scoreless. That has them set to host the deciding game for a place in the quarterfinals.
"We're pleased with the result we got in Holland as we know PSV are a good side and it's never easy to pick up points away," he stated. "Obviously, an away goal would've been ideal, but we're still in a good position and hopefully get the job done on Thursday."
The key contest will be Edu's eighth in continental play, but this is not the only reason he's gotten more from the current campaign than in the prior 18 months since his midseason arrival from Toronto FC in 2008.
After working 19 starts in 27 league outings over his first year-and-a-half with Rangers, the US international already has 16 starts in 22 SPL appearances this season. What's more, he's being used further up the field by manager Walter Smith.
Most often deployed directly in front of the defense until this season, Edu says he is comfortably enjoying the more advanced role. Sure enough, he has five goals across all competitions, a new career high.
"At the beginning of the season, the manager challenged me to get a few more goals," Edu said. "It's something I've felt I could do.
[inlinenode:330878]"He's encouraged me to get forward and make late runs to support the strikers. I've been fortunate to grab a few goals. I like it because I've always seen myself as a box-to-box type player. Hopefully, I can add a few more goals to my tally before the end of the season."
Once their immediate Europa League fate is decided on Thursday, Edu & Co. will tackle arch rivals Celtic at Hampden Park in final defense of that League Cup title. After that comes the SPL stretch run, with 'Gers chasing down the crown.
Rangers are two points shy of table-topping Celtic with a game in hand. The club has pulled off fantastic finishes for his first two championship rings, so it's no wonder that Edu is confident of expanding his adventure by becoming the first American to three-peat across the pond.
"Everyone at the club is still positive about our finish to the season," Edu said. "We're in a good position, but it's important to remain consistent from here on out. Dropping points at this time can prove very costly. Hopefully, we can go on a good run and finish the year off strongly like we've done the past couple seasons."
