Edu, Maurice

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Mo Edu

Personal Information

Full Name:Maurice Edu

Height:1.83 meters

Date Of Birth:18/4/1986

City Of Birth:Fontana, CA

Country Of Birth:United States

Club Information

Shirt Number: 2

Position: Midfielder

Debut:13/09/08 v Kilmarnock (h) 2-1

Maurice had only played professional football for 1 year before Rangers came calling in August 2008. His career started at University of Maryland and he played there for a few years before entering the MLS Superdraft in 2007. The Superdraft is a list of players that are signed by the league after they've excelled in college. The last placed team gets first pick to make sure the league is even. Edu ended up at newly-formed Toronto FC, and he made a big impression in his first season. He made 25 appearances and scored 4 goals in his first full season and won MLS Rookie of the Year award. This paved the way to Rangers and Mo Johnston recommended him to Walter Smith. His physicality and tackling and battling capabilities have show up well in the SPL so far and he's proven to be £2.7million well spent.

2008/2009 Season

Edu arrived about 5 games into the SPL season when the midfield trio of Davis, Mendes and Thomson started off good. He made his debut against Kilmarnock less than 24 hours after getting off the plane on international duty in America. It was a decent start but he'd find opportunities hard to come by after that. He wouldn't play much at all until Barry Ferguson was suspended by the club on international duty with Scotland. He took this opportunity with both hands and some consider him the reason we won the SPL title. He brought a balance to the side the Ferguson-Mendes partnership never and we went on to win 10 of the next 11 games with him in the side. Unfortunately, due to a strong tackle (if you can call it a tackle) in the last game of the season at Tannadice, Edu missed the Scottish Cup final. No one knew just the extent of his injury at the time. It wasn't the first time Edu had been victim of a shocking tackle. Glen Loovens off the ball studs on the knee thuggery faced retrospective punishment by the SFA.

2009/2010 Season

The 09/10 season hadn't started because of that tackle from Darren Dods. That ruled Mo out for 6 months and his season hasn't really gotten started until now. He came on in the 3rd Old Firm derby of the season as a sub for the injured McCulloch and had a goal disallowed in the first half. He produced his usual fantastic performance in the game and managed to get the game winner in the 93rd minute. Bedlam.

Edu Facts

• Edu was born in California.
• He was the first MLS Superdraft to play for Toronto FC.
• He won MLS Rookie of the Year in 2007.
• Each time Edu has scored, it has been the winning goal. 2-1 v St Mirren, 3-2 v Hibs and 1-0 v Celtic, 1-0 v Hamilton Accies.
• He made his international debut against Switzerland.
• He was on the cover of Fifa 2009, along with Ronaldinho and Guillermo Ochoa. The cover originally had Edu in a Toronto jersey but they changed it to the USA top when he moved to Scotland.