DaMARCUS Beasley has undergone a thorough re-invention since leaving Rangers.

The 31-year-old, remembered as a lightweight and rather injury-prone winger during his time at Ibrox, will be stationed at left-back and possibly even have possession of the captain's armband when Jurgen Klinsmann's USA side arrives in Glasgow for Friday night's friendly.

Such versatility has allowed the player to prolong his international career beyond the 100-cap mark, and help his side book their place at a seventh successive World Cup.

While thousands of immigrants cross the border from Mexico to the US every year to seek fame and fortune, it is noteworthy that it is a move in the opposite direction, to Mexican side Puebla, which has proved so beneficial for Beasley.

"It's a bit different," the player said of his new role with the USA. "It came around in March. We had a lot of injuries and Jurgen asked me if I could step in and play left-back and I said 'yeah'. He said 'are you sure?' and I said 'yeah'. That was basically the whole conversation and I haven't looked back since. "Playing left-back is a bit different from what I am used to but at the same time if it works for the team and he sees me playing back there and I feel comfortable, then I am going to run with it."

The former PSV Eindhoven and Manchester City player added: "Coming to Mexico has been great. It has helped me a lot and helped me get back into the national team.

It's the kind of football I like to play, the ball is on the ground. It's a fun league to play in but it's difficult because there's a lot of good young players. It's brought me back to life in the national team and it has been a good two-and-a-half years."

Beasley has fond memories of his visits to Mount Florida, a venue where he scored in the Ibrox club's 2008 Scottish Cup final win against Queen of the South. He has kept in touch with the turbulent events that have followed at his former club since his departure.

"I follow Rangers pretty much week in, week out, so I do know what happened and what's going on," Beasley said. "I think it was a big shock to everybody from the fans to the players that played for Rangers. It was a big shock but Rangers is a big club with a lot of history and I am sure in a couple of years they will be back in the Champions League. I am not saying people will forget about the whole situation but they will get back to playing high-end football, week in, week out.

"It feels good to be coming back to Scotland. I haven't been back for four years or something like that. My time there was up and down. It started off very well and then I got injured and struggled to get back in the side. As a team, we won a lot of championships and I still have a lot of friends in Scotland and in Glasgow and to be able to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world was a dream come true.

"I loved every minute of it, even though a lot of it was from the bench. It's going to be great to go back to a stadium where I had pretty good successes."