Rangers signing Matt Polster’s tears over baseball led him to a career in football

MATT POLSTER was sheltered from all the temptations of Sin City when he was growing up.

But the 25-year-old can’t wait to make his name in the madness that is Scottish football.

Polster, who signed a two-and-a-half-year deal to join Rangers from Chicago Fire last week, was brought up in Las Vegas.

He admits it’s not the sort of place you associate with the beautiful game.

However, that didn’t stop him falling in love with football – and being reduced to tears by the thought of playing baseball.

He said: “I was born in Milwaukee, but all I know is Las Vegas.

“My parents sheltered me quite a bit growing up.

“They didn’t let me go down to the Strip, and they didn’t let me leave the house after a certain time

“It was pretty strict – my mum was pretty terrified.

“When I was young, she always said I would play soccer, but my dad said absolutely not.

“I was playing dual sports, baseball and soccer. But apparently there was one day when I came into the car crying, and said I didn’t want to play baseball any more.

“I just wanted to play soccer. From there, I had a passion and a love for it. I watched English football constantly.

“The club I played for, Downtown Las Vegas, host the biggest international tournament in America.

“It’s 250 teams from 80 countries, which is quite impressive.”

Polster, who plays centre-midfield and right-back, spent the last three years in the MLS with Chicago, and faced Rangers boss Steven Gerrard when he was with LA Galaxy.

He went on: “I met him for the first time when I was at a January camp with the national team before we played Canada.

“He was doing pre-season with Galaxy.

“He’s someone you look up to when you’re young, and someone you want to strive to be one day.

“I played against him once. We drew with them 2-2, but our fans cheered them more than they cheered us.

“Probably my most influential team-mate, so far, has been Bastian Schweinsteiger.

“His understanding of the game helped us progress.

“We struggled in 2016, but when he came to Chicago in 2017, we won a lot more games.”

Gerrard believes Polster will surprise people with his quality, although it could take a few weeks to get his fitness right.

The Rangers boss, however, won’t be watching tonight’s Super Bowl with his new signing.

He said: “I like the excitement of the end-to-end stuff in basketball and I watched the Lakers when I was in Los Angeles.

“While I admire the NFL players, I just hate the stop-start nature of it.

“I’m an action man.”