Rangers, Dundee in historic final today

GLASGOW: Rangers and Dundee will both be looking to make history in the Scottish Cup football final today. That’s where the similarity ends. Rangers are aiming for a seventh domestic treble, while Dundee are hoping to lift the trophy for the first time in nearly a century. “We know we are the favourites,” Rangers midfielder Ronald de Boer said. And how Rangers won the league title last Sunday, beating city rivals Celtic on goal difference. They also topped the Bhoys to win the League Cup in March. Alex McLeish’s team finished a whopping 53 points above Dundee, and outscored the Dees 11-3 in four league matches this season. Even Dundee manager Jim Duffy admits there’s a difference in class. “If it was me looking at a cup final between Rangers and another club other than Celtic, it would take a brave man to say that Rangers wouldn’t win it,” said Duffy. “That is a natural conclusion to make.” Rangers have no problems scoring. De Boer and fellow midfielder Barry Ferguson scored 16 league goals, while Shota Arveladze and Michael Mols added 15 and 13, respectively.

Claudio Caniggia hit the back of the net eight times and Peter Lovenkrands collected nine goals. Lovenkrands — ho scored twice in last year’s win over Celtic — is doubtful for the match because of a shoulder injury. “We have to show maybe a little bit of arrogance and play the way we have been playing this season,” added De Boer. There’s some hope for Dundee, though: The last time the teams met, they played to a 2-2 tie. Duffy changed tactics for that match, opting for a more conservative 4-4-2 formation. “Anybody who knows me knows that we will play as openly as we can,” said Duffy, whose team failed to win any of its last five matches. “But we’re not daft. We can’t afford to give away needless goals.” Steve Lovell led Dundee —- who last won the Cup in 1910 and made its only other final appearance in 1964 —- with 11 goals and Fabian Caballero added nine. Defender Zura Khizanishvili was named the Scottish league’s “Young Player of the Year.”

But Duffy says Georgian midfielder Georgi Nemsadze will be his team’s most important player. “Barry Ferguson has been outstanding for Rangers,” said Duffy. “But Georgi is like that for us. He’s the lynchpin. If he does start to pull the strings, then we’re a better team. He has vision and close control allied to belief in his own ability and can give the strikers service.” And the team has waited long enough to win, Duffy added. “It’s 93 years since Dundee won this trophy,” he said. “That’s not just a lifetime. It’s even more than that.” Rangers have won six trebles in that span, and the 44-year-old McLeish can become the youngest manager to achieve the feat. He would join Jock Wallace, Walter Smith, Dick Advocaat, Bill Struth and Scott Symon. “It’s scary when you realise that only five managers have done it before, but I’m not overawed by it,” said McLeish, who took over in December 2001. “I wasn’t fazed by taking the Rangers  job because I felt ready  for it, and I felt confident.” Rangers will wear all white in the final for the first time  since 1964 — when they beat Dundee 3-1.