Jorgensen: I'll Make My Denmark This Time

Apr 20 2008 By Gavin Berry In Florence

MARTIN JORGENSEN suffered stage fright last time he played at Ibrox when he blew a great chance to cap his dream international debut with a goal against Scotland.

But the Danish star is determined to take centre stage on Thursday when he returns to the Govan ground with Fiorentina.

Jorgensen was just 23 when he came on 15 minutes from the end of a friendly in 1998 and blasted wide of Andy Goram's goal when clean through.

Thankfully it didn't cost his side as a goal from Light Blues legend Brian Laudrup earned them a 1-0 win in the World Cup warm-up.

Jorgensen, however, doesn't want to have any regrets on his Ibrox return this week in the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final showdown with Rangers.

He said: "I made my international debut at Ibrox in 1998 and that's the only time I've had any contact with Scottish football.

"Brian scored in that game while I missed a great chance. It was Andy Goram in goal and I shot wide.

"I don't know if he put me off or not, maybe I was just nervous.

"I had a lot of time to think about it after a clear run on goal from the halfway line.

"Brian was the star that night and in general but I only played nine or 10 games with him. I was just a youngster watching and learning so I didn't speak with him much.

"Brian, his brother Michael and Peter Schmeichel were the three big names in Danish football. As I recall, the atmosphere at Ibrox was great and the crowd gave Brian stick when he scored.

"It's a great stadium - not like here at Fiorentina where you have a running track around the pitch."

Former Udinese man Jorgensen is best known as a left-sided attacking midfielder but has recently been deployed at right-back by coach Cesare Prandelli.

However, he knows how vital it is for his team to bag an away goal at Ibrox against a dogged Gers side yet to concede at home in the UEFA Cup.

Jorgensen said: "It's important we score at Ibrox. We've netted in all our away games with the exception of Everton where we had a lot of injury problems.

"Even if we score it doesn't mean we're going through. We won in Eindhoven against PSV but Rangers won in Lisbon which isn't an easy thing to do.

"We're not good in defence, we're an attacking team. The coach wants attractive football which can be difficult."