McCall: Swiss legend was difference in 1996 defeat
STUART McCALL still recalls the red shirts worn and the striker who left them with faces to match.
He’ll just be relieved not to see Kubilay Turkyilmaz run out tomorrow night when Rangers return to Swiss soil 23 years on to face Young Boys in Bern.
The Switzerland striker buried two and set up Murat Yakin for the other as a Gers outfit skippered by Richard Gough lost 3-0 to Grasshoppers in their Champions League group opener back in 1996.
McCall was part of that Walter Smith side stung in Zurich when they were branded “a bunch of tourists” by opposition gaffer Christian Gross.
The loss, three months after Turkyilmaz stunned Wembley with a leveller against England at Euro 96, set the tone with Gers bottom of their group.
Ex-midfielder McCall said: “I just hope Young Boys don’t have a striker of the calibre of Turkyilmaz!
“He was terrific and scored twice and set one up. Turkyilmaz and the fact we wore red shirts are two of the things that stick out from that match. I’ve tried to forget it to be honest!
“We had a strong team with the likes of Paul Gascoigne, Jorg Albertz and big Goughie playing.
“We had beaten Alania Vladikavkaz 10-3 on aggregate in the qualifiers so hopes were high going into the group stage.
“But that brought us crashing back down. It was a disappointing campaign – we lost twice to Ajax and Auxerre as well and our only win was at home to Grasshoppers.
“But Switzerland is a tough place to go. I remember a few years earlier going to Bern with the national team. We got a 2-2 draw and Turkyilmaz played that night too.”
Young Boys have not lost on their plastic pitch in almost a year.
But McCall added: “Plastic pitches shouldn’t be allowed in Europe. My last European soiree with Motherwell was on a plastic pitch and we lost 3-2 to Stjarnan in Iceland.”