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Rangers midfielder Jose Cifuentes suffers yet another blow on Ecuador duty
Rangers midfielder Jose Cifuentes endured a rather disappointing night as he was cautioned, had a goal ruled out by VAR and was then substituted off as Ecuador played out a 0-0 draw with Venezuela.
The 24-year-old was handed a start – something he has lacked at Ibrox in recent weeks – but could not make a telling difference in the World Cup qualifier at Estadio Monumental de Maturin.
Cifuentes would have targeted Ecuador’s double-header this international window as a chance to showcase his talents after struggling for minutes at club level of late, not helped by an injury lay-off.
Since Philippe Clement’s arrival in Glasgow on 15 October, the summer signing from Los Angeles FC has played just 15 minutes of football. That is made up of three substitute appearances in the Gers’ seven matches under Clement.
However, Cifuentes has now been ruled out of Ecuador’s meeting with Chile on Tuesday (21 November) due to the yellow card he picked up in the Venezuela stalemate.
As pointed out by Ecuadorian outlet Las 24 Horas de Jujuy [17 November], Cifuentes will serve a one-match ban as a result of an accumulation of cautions this qualifying campaign.
That is good news for the Gers from a selfish point of view, as it may well mean the midfielder returns to Glasgow ahead of schedule prior to next week’s meeting with Aberdeen.
However, it would have been nice for Cifuentes to get some more minutes under his belt and regain some confidence, which he will not now get the chance to do so.
In more positive news, Cifuentes does appear to be over the injury he sustained during the last international window, so let’s just hope he can hit the ground running and push for inclusion when the Gers return to action.
In other Rangers news, a Gers player has provided an update on his future amid talk of a new role.