RANGERS ace Carlos Cuellar swapped the world's most entertaining league for the chance to win silverware.

And the Spaniard believes his decision to quit Osasuna for Ibrox last summer has been completely vindicated as Walter Smith's men close in on several trophies.

With the CIS League Cup already in the bag, the Ibrox club have bigger fish to fry as they attempt to secure their first SPL title in three years and the Scottish Cup to complete a domestic treble.

However, it goes without saying the Uefa Cup is the competition everyone connected with the club wants above everything else. And their achievement in reaching the final with Zenit hasn't gone unnoticed in Cuellar's homeland.

"I've had a lot of phone calls from newspapers and radio stations in Spain looking to interview me," said the powerful defender. "So there is a lot of interest in the match over there as well.

"I suppose there are people who think you are crazy to leave La Liga. But only Real Madrid and Barcelona only really have the chance to win the league and the cups.

"It's difficult for the others clubs to win trophies on a regular basis so that was why I wanted to move to Glasgow and play for Rangers. The chance to be successful and win things was very appealing to me."

He went on: "Of course, at the time, I didn't think about reaching the final of the Uefa Cup. I knew Rangers played in Europe every season and always had a good chance of being involved in the Champions League.

"But it's fantastic that we will now play Zenit in the Uefa Cup Final and I've got a lot of family and friends from back home in Spain coming over for the game."

Cuellar revealed he has been having dreams about next week's final, but decided against telling how those end. Clearly though, he feels Gers have a good chance of lifting the Uefa Cup.

He said: "I wasn't even born when Rangers won the European Cup-Winners' Cup in Barcelona in 1972. But since I joined Rangers I've been made aware of this and it would be unbelievable if we could win the Uefa Cup.

"I think we have performed really well in Europe this season and we have performed well to reach the final. We have defeated some very good teams and we must taken confidence from this.

"We have watching DVDs of Zenit and we realise it will be an extremely difficult game, but we have shown we can be successful in Europe and hopefully we can win the competition."

When Cuellar's team-mates talk about his attributes and what he has brought to the club, just about every one of them speak fondly of him, not just in professional terms, but for the way he has ingratiated himself to them off the pitch as well.

And when you are in the big man's company, it's easy to see why. Still trying to learn English, Cuellar can now hold a reasonable conversation and has a good sense of humour to go along with it.

When asked how pleasing it was to have become so popular with the Light Blue legions and have his own song, Cuellar can't stop himself from giving a quick version that threatened to crack the glass windows in the Blue Room at Ibrox Stadium.

"Yes, I'm aware the Rangers supporters sing songs about me and it's a great feeling for me to hear that during games," he said. "And it's very nice to know the fans are happy to sing with me."

Carlos added: "In Spain, I was appreciated by the supporters but nothing compared to how it is now at Rangers. It's a fantastic feeling. I feel very special and I enjoy playing for the fans and doing my best."

On Sunday evening, Cuellar will collect his award after winning the Football Writers' Player of the Year. Rarely putting a foot wrong this season, his displays are perhaps the key factor in their success.

But he is quick to praise his defensive colleague Davie Weir, who has stood shoulder to shoulder with him. "Davie has been excellent and helped me a lot during the season," said Cuellar. "He is an experienced player and we have a good understanding and I think he could continue to play on for another two or three years without any problems."