Novo scare shocked Ferguson

DEREK FERGUSON has revealed the ‘shocking’ nature of Nacho Novo’s heart scare after the former Rangers striker took ill in Germany at the weekend. The 38-year-old underwent surgery and is expected to remain in a Berlin hospital for at least a week, although he is said to be in a stable condition. Both Ferguson and the Spaniard had been playing for a Rangers legends team when, following one of the matches, Novo received medical attention before being taken to hospital. ‘We were in shock and I think I still am in a bit of shock,’ former Ibrox midfielder Ferguson told BBC Scotland. ‘John Brown, who was in charge of the team, had to go to the hospital. A few of us sat together, I couldn’t stop thinking about Nacho and we were all just sitting waiting on news. ‘I was shocked to hear the next morning that he had undergone a procedure, and I don’t know too much about it, but we knew they were trying to get cardiologists to the hospital. ‘Sometimes you think you’re invincible as a player, even when you get older as we play lots of these things, so it was shocking to hear that Nacho, at 38, had gone through a heart procedure. ‘What we also found out is that his mother actually died from a heart attack at the age of 43. ‘It was strange getting on the plane a man down and I think they expect him to be in the hospital for a week.’ Novo was playing alongside the likes of fellow Ibrox icons Ferguson, Michael Mols, Andy Goram and Marvin Andrews in the legends tournament. ‘I noticed in the last five minutes he had come off and was leaning over the barrier,’ continued Ferguson. ‘He had a bag of ice on the back of his neck and you could see he was struggling. I didn’t read too much into it because if you looked at a few other guys who were there, guys with good fitness, they were struggling at times as well, as was I. It was intense. ‘We had just been put out of the tournament, we lost the two games, we were back in the dressing room feeling a little sorry for ourselves, then the physio who was with Nacho got the paramedics in. ‘We thought he was going for a quick check-up and then would be back with the group. We got showered and went upstairs to where they were holding a function, expecting Nacho to come back. ‘Then the news came through from one of the guys who was looking after us that Nacho had been rushed to hospital.’