Football: Alkmaar Seltzer; AZ Alkmaar 1 Rangers 0.

Byline: David McCarthy 

THEY were told AZ Alkmaar came out of the traps like greyhounds on speed. But all the warnings in the world couldn't prepare Rangers for the whirlwind that greeted them from the first whistle in Holland last night.

And sure enough, Alex McLeish's men cracked after just seven minutes and rarely looked like salvaging this UEFA Cup tie.

A spirited second-half show had the Dutch concerned at times but Co Adriaanse's side were quicker, slicker and stronger for most of the night and deserved the 1-0 win that saw the m through Group F.

Attacking with abandon on both wings, AZ stretched Rangers and could have been in front before captain Danny Landzaat's strike beat Stefan Klos, who went on to make a couple of vital stops as AZ threatened to run riot in that opening spell.

Rangers came close in the last 10minutes - Marvin Andrews having a header cleared off the line and two penalty shouts ignored by the Israeli referee - but Alkmaar held out and were worth the points.

McLeish's men should still qualify for the last 32 but will have to endure a nervous 90 minutes against Auxerre, who slaughtered Amica Wronki 5-1.

Of course, AZ could make that match irrelevant if they beat or draw with Grazer AK in their last match to knock the Austrians out and on this form, that's a distinct possibility.

But Rangers will want to do the job themselves,having failed to do so last night.

At the start the feelgood factor may have embraced Rangers like 15-tog duvet on a freezing night but the sight of one man taking his seat in the Alkmaarhout would have chilled their 2000-strong travelling support to the bone.

Graeme Souness, who has crowbarred Barry Ferguson, Lorenzo Amoruso and Tugay from Ibrox in the recent past, was here and clearly he was not a tourist. With his Newcastle sidekick Dean Saunders in tow, the former Ibrox boss was here to watch Jean-Alain Boumsong. Again.

That, though, was the sideshow. The main event was Rangers trying to stretch their unbeaten run to 17 games, a sequence that extended back to the 1-0 defeat against Maritimo in Madeira.

Those dark days when McLeish's job was on the line now seem a long time gone and his team came out into this compact stadium brimming with self-belief.

So too did the Dutch, though, and with good reason. Adriaanse's team has scorched to second place in their domestic league with nine straight wins and they had not lost a European tie in 15games at home.

McLeish stiffened his midfield by including both Alex Rae - back from his five-match ban - and Bob Malcolm with Hamed Namouchi making way.

Michael Ball was given a start in what will almost certainly be his second-last game in a Rangers jersey, having now played 58 of the 59 he is allowed before Everton are due anotherpounds 500,000the Ibrox club is unwilling to pay.The only other change was that Dado Prso had finally got rid of the bandage that has swathed his scarred forehead of late.

The 7500-capacity stadium was absolutely packed but to a man it fell silent for a minute before kick-off in memory of Prince Bernard, father of Holland's Queen Beatrix, who died yesterday.

Ball was involved immediately as the Dutch made their customary whirlwind start. The left-back had to tuck in to clear a dangerous cross from the right and he took a whack in the process.

Dane Kenneth Perez had been pinpointed as a danger before the game and he was flying in the early stages.Sure enough,when AZ took the lead after just seven minutes, the danger emanated from his area.

A dangerous cross was touched back at the back post by Martin Meerdink for Landzaat to burst into space and rifle home from around the penalty spot.

Rangers were reeling and minutes later a viciously swerving volley from Meerdink just evaded Klos' right-hand post.

The Scots had to stabilise because they were being overrun but shots from Prso and Peter Lovenkrands served notice that Rangers were getting a foothold. AZ, though, threatened danger whenever they rampaged over the halfway line.

They should have been two up in the19th minute when Landzaat burst through a Boumsong challenge far too easily and only Klos' extended right foot saved the day when the midfielder hit it from16yards. Ball was booked soon afterwards for stopping a free-kick being taken quickly, which summed up Rangers' desperation.

McLeish needed strong men out there and must have despaired at Lovenkrands shirking a tackle in the 32nd minute that led to another scorned chance by AZ. Rae, Ricksen, Malcolm and Ball let the Dane know his timidity was not acceptable.

Then suddenly in the 36th minute Rangers were presented with a glorious chance to grab an equaliser out of nothing. Defender Barry Opdam's miscontrol allowed Novo to swipe the ball off his toe and home in on keeper Henk Timmer.

It was a one-on-one and given Novo's form you'd have bet on him scoring but his left--foot shot was blocked by the keeper's boot.

Normal service was soon resumed at the other end when more Klos heroics were required to keep Rangers in with a sniff.The German threw himself to his right to turn a stinging shot from Tim de Cler round a post after the right side of the visiting defence had been sliced open with alarming ease.

The save meant Rangers went in at the break still in the contest but only just.

Rangers reappeared without Lovenkrands who seemed to pull a hamstring just before half-time but this player needs to be sidelined anyway and given a run in the reserves to try to restore confidence that has ebbed away and is now non-existent.

Namouchi replaced him and Novo was pushed further up alongside Prso instead of being left out wide where he hadn't made an impact.

They started aggressively with Prso shooting over then Andrews cementing both Boumsong and de Cler as he jumped for a cross in the Alkmaar box.

As the hour approached de Cler was booked for chopping Novo as he cut in from the right.

The free-kick gave Rangers a promising position on the edge of the box but Ball's cross was cleared and the Dutch pressed so well that Rae was forced to play it back to Klos from halfway. This was a clearly very good outfit.

Rangers won their first corner in the 64th minute but Andrews couldn't direct his header from Ricksen's delivery on target. However, they were certainly more of a threat, although they were leaving themselves more open to AZ's lightning counter-attacks.

In the 66th minute they almost got a second when Klos and Ball got mixed up on the edge of the box and the ball broke to Barry van Galen, whose looping header from 20 yards was drifting into the net before the keeper scrambled back to catch it on the line.

Rangers again threatened from a poorly cleared corner that was fed back in by Boumsong for Andrews to test the keeper.

With 20 minutes left Malcolm went into the book for scything Stein Huysegems. He could have no complaints either and seconds later the midfielder made way for Stephen Hughes.

Rangers had a decent penalty claim rejected 10 minutes from time when Hughes' cross seemed to be handled by van Galen and another huge shout when Prso went crashing as he homed in on goal.

Sandwiched between this was an Andrews header that was thundering towards the net before Olaf Lindenbergh cleared. Rangers were certainly having a go but the equaliser wouldn't come.

CAPTION(S):

NACHO NO-GO: Rangers' Spanish striker fails to capitalise on a chance as Dado Prso looks on. Below: AZ skipper Denny Landzaat celebrates his winning goal; HEADS YOU WIN: Alex Rae jumps for the ball along with AZ Alkmaar captain and scorer Denny Landzaat. Below, Peter Lovenkrands tries his best as Rangers mount an attack