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Saturday, April 05, 2008

Hogan Ephraim's International Ambitions

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Ealing Gazette - Hogan's country quandry
HOGAN Ephraim's sparkling form this season could bring him an unexpected dilemma.
The former West Ham winger - lively throughout on his return to action for Rangers on Saturday after serving a three-match ban - has international ambitions, but may soon have to choose a country!
Ephraim (pictured) has been thinking about playing for England one day but it turns out he also qualifies to play for the Republic of Ireland.
That means the youngster, who turned 20 on Monday, could be named in Giovanni Trapattoni's Irish squad for a friendly against Colombia in May.
He would not have far to travel for the match either as it takes place at Craven Cottage.
Ephraim told the Gazette: "My mother is from the Republic of Ireland, I am English. I was born in England so obviously that is the dream, but I will leave all options open.
"Whatever came along, I would listen to.
"I am just happy playing my football at the moment, my international career will sort itself out."
Ephraim, clearly revelling in what next season might hold for both him and Rangers, continued: "The club is really on the up and next season is going to be massive for us.
"The owners and the manager will be expecting big things from us it is going to be a different kind of pressure.
"We are going to have to live up to the expectations of the fans and the management.
"The owners have said to us that them being rich shareholders is not going to win us games.
"We have to go out and put in the hard work, the graft and the skill to win games."
Ephraim again impressed for the Rs as they held Ipswich to an entertaining 0-0 draw at Portman Road.
That was no mean feat against a team with the best home record in the division who are chasing the play-offs.
"It was a long three weeks, I am glad to be back. I thought the team did very well and it was a good point," the former Hammer said.
"We are hoping to get as many points as possible before the end of the season. We want to get as many wins on the board as possible so we have some momentum going into next season.
"We put pressure on ourselves. We came to Ipswich knowing that they have the best home record in the division, and we still went out to win the game.
"A lot of teams come here and try to shut up shop, but it was a really open game. We worked hard for the point and we will continue to put pressure on ourselves and keep going...." Ealing Gazette

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