St Joseph's defender Ryan Casciaro eyes another Old Firm scalp

The 35-year-old was in the Lincoln Red Imps side which stunned Celtic in 2016

Published 4th Jul 2019

St Joseph's defender Ryan Casciaro is hoping circumstances conspire to provide another shock in Gibraltar when Rangers visit next week.

The 35-year-old was in the Lincoln Red Imps side which stunned Celtic in 2016 when his brother Lee scored the only goal of the Champions League qualifier first leg at the tiny Victoria Stadium, although the Hoops rescued the tie at Parkhead.

St Joseph's reached the Europa League qualifier against Steven Gerrard's side with a 2-0 home win against nine-man Prishtina on Tuesday night which gave them a 3-1 aggregate win over the Kosovan outfit.

The date of the first game against the Ibrox side is yet to be finalised but it will also take place on the artificial surface of the Victoria Stadium, the only arena in Gibraltar fit to host European ties.

And Casciaro would like nothing more than to make it an Old Firm double against the blue side of Glasgow, before the return game at Ibrox on June 18.

He told PA: "Can it happen again? Of course it can. It's football. It's 90 minutes and anything can happen.

"It is going to be difficult. We have to stick to our game plan and we have to be lucky as well. Everything has to be on our side.

"Prishtina had two players sent off so if that happened next week and everything is for us, Rangers could be facing us with nine men. You can get a red card in the first minute and the whole game changes.

"They changed the surface two or three weeks ago but it is still artificial.

"Anything that slows the game down works to our advantage, especially playing against a top side.

"When you are the underdog what you want is a slow surface, so it will work in our favour. It is different for us when we play on grass.

"We can't hide the fact that it is practically nearly an impossible job but football is football. Anything can happen.''

Casciaro, a policeman, noted the magnitude of the famous result against Celtic in what was Brendan Rodgers' first game in charge of the Parkhead club.

It was one of only five defeats the Hoops suffered all season - all of them in Europe - as a domestic treble was achieved without losing a game.

He said: "We were complete underdogs but we knew if we stuck to our game plan we could at least come out with a decent result.

"When we scored to make it 1-0 and the minutes were going by we knew it was going to be difficult for them because of the temperature and the surface.

"It was against a club as big as Celtic, a club who had won the European Cup, it was incredible.

"Celtic then went on an unbeaten run that season and won the treble.

"For me it (win against Rangers) would be amazing but it is about the team and for the team it would be a special moment.'