Rangers-owned Ianis Hagi became a Romanian hero on Saturday night as he fired his country into the European Championships.
The final international break of 2023 is upon us and teams are making one last push for Euro 2024.
Scotland – with Rangers duo Robby McCrorie and Ryan Jack in the squad – had little to worry about though having also secured qualification.
The same goes for Ridvan Yilmaz and Turkey, but Rangers loanee Ianis Hagi had more on the line in this international break…
Ianis Hagi fires Romania to Euro 2024
Hagi is spending the season away from Rangers having bene allowed to join La Liga side Alaves on loan.
The decision has divided opinion with some believing that Hagi could still have made a big impact at Ibrox this season.
There have been encouraging signs from Hagi but has been in and out of the Alaves team and is yet to score this season.
The 25-year-old still has a key part to play for Romania though and started in Saturday’s clash against Israel.
Romania fell behind after just two minutes but quickly levelled it up, knowing that a winner would send them to Euro 2024.
Hagi proved to be the hero, drilling home a superb low strike just after the hour mark to send Romania through.
This was a real moment of quality from Hagi, who showed great desire to drive towards the box before having the ability to finish off the move.
Philippe Clement will be watching Hagi closely
Hagi is in a strange situation in terms of his Rangers future.
The playmaker signed a new contract in December of last year, committing his future to the club until 2026.
Michael Beale then decided to send Hagi out on loan, throwing his Rangers future into doubt.
There may still be a route back to Rangers for Hagi, especially if he can show real quality like his goal for Romania.
Philippe Clement – who quit Genk just before Hagi joined them in 2019 – will be aware of the Romanian and will now be keeping close tabs on him as he weighs up his long-term Ibrox future.
Hagi may well fit as a number 10 in Clement’s 4-2-3-1 system and it’s hard to write him off when you see goals of this quality.
Maybe Alaves will want to keep Hagi, but Clement will be weighing up bringing him back into the Rangers fold in 2024.
