Since Rangers started being linked to Mexican players, thanks to Pedro Caixinha, the local press have made a few articles introducing the club. The Scottish Premiership isn’t really popular overseas, and even though Rangers and Celtic are known worldwide, most people don’t know much more than club names and kits.
Mexican outlet El Mercurio has a story today covering Rangers’ roots with religion, and what they describe as the club’s insistence on not signing Catholic players for a long time.
That’s why their headline says that this could be an obstacle for Gullit Peña and Eduardo Herrera, who are set to be signed by the Ibrox side. The outlet claims the players and their families are ‘very devoted to the Guadalupe virgin’, the most popular catholic saint in Mexico.
The story makes it clear that religion is no longer a barrier at Ibrox, but it’s said the way the players will be treated by fans is ‘still to be seen’. It doesn’t make much sense at that point. El Mercurio are trying to find a story where there isn’t one, and they could have done a better job by only telling the past events and saying the players will be fine now.
Regarding the transfers of the two Mexicans to Rangers, the outlet claims they are still waiting for their work permits to be sorted.
Rangers are going to be covered increasingly in Mexico and Portugal, and it may be an opportunity for the club to put right what they’d likely insist are wrong perceptions. The extra attention is obviously a good thing, but it will also bring extra eyes and ears when Rangers play Celtic, and with the likes of Mexico’s El Mercurio already talking about some of the things sung, it may not all be positive.
