I’ll be forever grateful to Rangers but that
I can go to World Cup if I hit my Peke here
ALFREDO MORELOS hopes he can force his way into Colombia’s World Cup plans by dazzling for Rangers.
The striker has already netted seven goals for Gers in a blistering start to his Ibrox career.
And the 21-year-old is now praying his displays will catch the eye of Colombia boss Jose Pekerman.
Morelos has represented his country at all levels up to the Under-20s and is desperate to get into the full squad, with Colombia sitting comfortably in the qualifying spots for a place at Russia next summer.
He said: “It has started at Rangers in the best possible way. I had a hard pre-season and prepared well for the start of the league.
“I have adapted well to the team and that’s reflected on the pitch. So far everything has gone well.
“I have been starting games and the continuity has helped me. I’m at my best when I am happy and I certainly am at Rangers.
“Every game I learn more about my team-mates. I’m starting to know their movements and characteristics.
“I’m growing and improving as a player and my next aim is a place in the Colombia squad.
“I’ve said to Mr Pekerman, ‘I’m here if you need me’.
“I’m training well, playing well, scoring goals. My mindset is to carry on doing the right things and wait for the call from him.”
The £1million summer signing from Helsinki also defended Scottish football and said: “It’s a different pace compared to the game I played in Finland – it’s played with more intensity, it is physical and the aerial side of the game is important.
“I’m playing for a big club. Their fans always fill the stadium. Every time I go to the shops,I’m asked for a photo or an autograph.
“The fans have given me love and support.” RYAN EDWARDS is desperate to help Partick Thistle to their first win of the season when they face Rangers at Firhill on Friday night.
Some 10,500 miles away he will be cheered on by his dad Alistair whose only game for Rangers was in Maryhill against the Jags.
Edwards Snr spent 18 months at Ibrox as a teenager at the height of the Graeme Souness revolution and although he didn’t make the grade it set him up for a terrific career in football.
Training with England World Cup stars Terry Butcher, Chris Woods and Ray Wilkins and Gers heroes such as Ally McCoist, Ian Durrant, Richard Gough and Davie Cooper was a massive education.
He went on to play successfully in Australia and Malaysia as well as the Socceroos and now works for one of the world’s richest men, Crown Prince Tunku Ismail, as technical director at Malaysian club Johor.
Edwards said: “I went to Ibrox straight after the World Youth Cup in Chile in 1987 when I was asked to come for a trial and I was there for about 18 months.
“Having grown up in Australia to Scottish parents I knew about Rangers and Scottish football but I’d no idea how big the club was. I came at a very exciting time because Graeme Souness and Walter Smith had just won the Championship and I was training with the first team.
“It was surreal actually because I was rubbing shoulders with players I had only seen on TV like Graham Roberts, Richard Gough, Ray Wilkins, Chris Woods and Terry Butcher.
“That was fantastic but the