Aribo’s solo effort may have broken Braga but was no collector’s item

AS Europa League viewers marvelled at Joe Aribo’s solo strike against Braga 10 days ago, Rangers fans reached for superlatives and comparisons with other great Ibrox European night goals.

For others more familiar with the former Charlton man’s work, the first-leg heroics that helped pave the way to a place in the last 16 were nothing they hadn’t witnessed before.

Aribo (below) had to smile when reminded of his mazy, crazy goals in Lavender Park, Mitcham, south west London by a message that landed soon after that career high of his club’s stunning 3-2 comeback win.

His unconventional route to stardom in Scotland included playing a lot of free-styling football at what was known as ‘the cage’ near his home.

And the skills first showcased on that pitch as a teenager have transferred to the European stage years later.

‘One of my friends told people who said the goal was amazing that he had seen me doing that countless times! That made me laugh,’ revealed Aribo.

‘I grew up in South London and played football all the time with my friends. We used to play a game where we were all against one another and it was last man standing.

‘You had to keep the ball and dribble past people and, if you scored, you went into the next round. You would keep doing that until there was a winner.

‘There could be about 15 to 20 guys playing against each other to start with. Glen Kamara played in the games as did Mickel Miller, who is now at Hamilton.

‘Wilfried Zaha used to go there sometimes as well, so there were a lot of good players. Doing it in the Europa League last 32 is a bit different to doing it against my friends, mind you!

‘That game was huge and being able to do it at that level was great. At the end I was just thinking: “Wow, I did that”. I got a lot of messages. A lot of people said they were proud of me and that’s nice to hear.’

That Aribo’s magic was woven into the tie after his emergency deployment as a Borna Barisic replacement at left-back added an extra layer of amusement to the story for his team-mates.

The 23-year-old was substitute again in last Wednesday’s second leg, content enough to accept that a fit-again Barisic was preferred from the start as Rangers scored a landmark success in Portugal.

‘I will do what I have to do for the team but I know it isn’t my best position,’ he said. ‘I played there earlier in my career and I filled in at Charlton.

‘A lot of the boys have been joking with me about getting two goals from left-back against Braga and St Johnstone, but I was glad to see Borna Barisic coming back!

‘The run in Europe has shown how far we have come as a team and how good we can be.

‘We were all buzzing to be in the last 16. ‘European nights at this club are amazing and that’s one of the reasons I came here.’