Heroes to a man on the night a legend was born

ALMOST 10 years ago Walter Smith handed over the Rangers reins to Dick Advocaat...now the Dutchman stands between him and European glory.

In a quite unbelievable twist of fate, the two managers will now locks horns in just 12 days' time at the City of Manchester Stadium for the biggest prize of their careers in club manage- ment, the Uefa Cup.

Advocaat's classy Zenit St Petersburg side crushed the might of Bayern Munich 4-0 to book their place in the final just 20 minutes or so before Smith sent his men out for what transpired to be the most nerve-shredding night of drama in Florence.

Despite having to weather periods of relentless pressure, Rangers stayed alive through 120 minutes of football to take the tie to penalties to determine a winner.

It was then that the tension in Tuscany became almost unbearable, but Smith's side held their nerve to win through 4-2, sparking wild scenes in the Artemio Franchi Stadium.

Now, just like the side they are trying to emulate from 72, Barry Ferguson and Co will face a Russian side in the final.

And, given what they have come through, the way fate appears to be on their side, what price they go all the way and land glory just like the Barcelona legends who defeated Moscow Dynamo?

As for Smith, he just edges closer to greatness, the magnitude of the job he has performed now cemented by guiding his side to a Uefa Cup Final.

He knows he has a side who are not the prettiest, but football is not always about having the best team, but the right team.

He has them organised, they defend like demons and the Italians slumped one by one to the turf as they watched attack after attack fail.

They had chances, although not too many clear-cut, and their coach, Cesare Prandelli, still wore the look of a man who had just been hit by a baseball bat as he conducted media duties a good hour-and-a-half afterwards.

Smith was the polar opposite, unable to contain his joy after watching his side keep their 12th clean sheet in 18 ties.

He always knew that side of the game would be crucial in Florence. His backline is the one thing he can usually rely on, especially when it has its key components in place.

Carlos Cuellar and Davie Weir have been superb all season and were again quite colossal last night.

Behind them, Neil Alexander has proved to be a more than capable deputy for Allan McGregor. And this defensive unit, married with the necessary sprinklings of good play, good goals and luck, has taken them to the final. It was always going to take another impressive rearguard action from Rangers, who went into this one deadlocked at 0-0 from the first leg at Ibrox.

THE Italians, we were told, would come flying out of the traps in search of an early goal that would force Smith's side into opening out.

However, there was little in the way of menace in the opening stages. On a decent playing surface, Rangers kept the ball well, without ever really posing any kind of threat themselves.

An 18th-minute shot from Montolivo, and a cross from the left that Sasa Papac had to smack away from goal were just about the only efforts the home team had. They certainly didn't feed off what was an excellent home support.

In the second period, Adrian Mutu looked more in the mood, his cross in the 51st minute setting more of a tone for what lay ahead, but Pazzini shot high and wide. The Romanian then skimmed a free-kick wide as Rangers began to struggle in ball retention, and skipper Thomas Ujfalusi blasted just over from inside the box. Mutu's shot from distance in the 69th minute brought the first genuine save from Alexander, and it was the 76th minute before Rangers fashioned their first genuine chance.

Daniel Cousin - on for the jaded-looking Jean-Claude Darcheville - won a flick on and Steven Davis was on it in the penalty area.

But the midfielder could not get any power behind his effort on Sebastian Frey, and the chance was lost. The French keeper, though, was to keep the Italians in the tie with just five minutes to go.

Steven Whittaker gathered on the right and, ignoring the options in front of him, curled in a superb shot that Frey leapt to his right to palm away. That was the final act of normal time and, underneath the floodlights on a muggy Tuscan night, we went into overtime.

For all their possession, Fiorentina lacked a killer touch in the final third. They huffed and puffed, but could not blow Rangers down.

Their cause, though, was aided in the 109th minute when Cousin, already on a yellow, displayed a moment of madness. He got himself needlessly involved after a soft free-kick was awarded against him near the corner flag.

Instead of just moving away, he came head-to-head with Liverani and gestured forward.

The Italian collapsed, out came a second yellow from Belgian referee Frank de Bleeckere and Rangers were down to 10 men.

Even then, the Viola were bereft of ideas of how to get past Rangers' stubborn backline.

Penalties had looked on throughout most of extra time, and they were indeed required to settle this semi-final. Skipper Barry Ferguson assumed responsibility and went up first, only to see Frey make a superb diving save to his right.

Kuzmanovic made it 1-0 in the Italians favour, before Steven Whittaker crucially scored. Montolivo and Papac found the net, but then Alexander dived to his left and smothered Liverani's effort to keep the score 2-2.

Brahim Hemdani showed ice-cool nerves to score and up came Christian Vieri, the man who has been one of Serie A's most feared marksmen on his day.

Amazingly, Vieri fired high over the bar, and suddenly Rangers had one kick for glory. Nacho Novo, the man who took them into the Champions League back in August and who saved them in Athens when they were seven minutes away from going out of the Uefa Cup at the first hurdle, strode forward.

He kept his head, slotted past Frey, and Rangers were there. The Spaniard and his team-mates are now one step away from true legendary status.

Fiorentina: Frey, Jorgensen, Gamberini, Ujfalusi, Gobbi, Donadel (Kuzmanovic 42), Liverani, Montolivo, Santana (Semioli 94), Pazzini (Vieri 79), Mutu. Subs not used: Avramov, Dainelli, Osvaldo, Pasqual.

Rangers: Alexander, Broadfoot, Cuellar, Weir, Papac, Hemdani, Davis (Novo 81), Ferguson, Thomson, Whittaker, Darcheville (Cousin 65). Subs not used: Graeme Smith, Buffel, Boyd, Dailly, Faye. Sent off: Cousin (110). Booked: Thomson, Weir, Cousin.

Attendance: 39,130 Referee: Frank de Bleeckere