European Football Focus

Oct 4, 2011

Bayern Winger worried by slow recovery

Bayern Munich and Holland winger Arjen Robben has admitted anxiety over his slow recovery from the pubic bone inflammation he suffered in late August.

Despite being involved in Bayern Munich's last three fixtures, Robben missed the national team's training on Monday and he is concerned that he is yet to fully recover from the injury.

Robben was quoted by De Telegraaf: "I am worried. It is definitely not good and it is annoying that I do not know where I stand."

The lack of a proper treatment for such injuries is a point of disappointment for Robben.

"It is a complicated injury. There is no one who can say exactly what you can do [to fix it].
I would rather have a torn muscle - at least then I would know that after six weeks I would be fit again."

Robben has been called up to the squad that will play against Moldova and Sweden in the last two Euro 2012 qualifying games, though it is uncertain whether he is fully fit to play in both fixtures.

Ibra: My time is almost up

10:24 AM Italian Serie A 0 comments

AC Milan Forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic has admitted he is starting to consider over life after football.

The 30-year-old has enjoyed a memorable career - starting at Ajax before moving on to European top clubs such as Barcelona, Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan.

Revealing his future plans, the Swedish striker knows his time is almost up but would like to play for one more year.

"I am starting to get old, time has gone by fast, but I still want to play for another year or so," Ibrahimovic is quoted as saying by Sportbladet.

"Now I feel more mature and I also have two children now. Time has flown by very quickly and I have changed many teams during my career.

"Everything has just gone by me. Once I retire from football then I will begin to enjoy life.

"I don't know when I will retire, but I want to continue playing for just a little bit longer."

Ibrahimovic could not help Milan from losing 2-0 to title rivals Juventus on Saturday but insists his side did their best.

"I don't think we could have done any more in that game," he said.

Ibrahimovic will be with Sweden national side as they play Finland in the Euro 2012 qualifiers on Friday.

Knee operation for Villarreal Striker Nilmar

9:57 AM Spanish Premier League 0 comments

Villarreal frontman Nilmar will undergo an operation on a right knee cyst on Tuesday, the La Liga club have confirmed.

The Yellow Submarine did not reveal how long Nilmar could be out of action for following the surgery.

Juan Carlos Garrido's side have suffered a poor start to the season, winning just one of their opening six games in La Liga and losing both of their two Champions League Group A matches against Bayern Munich and Napoli 2-0.

SAF hoping for injury boost

9:51 AM English Premier League 0 comments

Sir Alex Ferguson will be just as worried by the recovery of his key players as the international matches being played in the break.

Manchester United have three players - England duo Youngsters Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley, plus captain Nemanja Vidic - who have a chance of being fit for the vital Premier League visit to The Anfield on October 15.

The Serbian has been out since suffering a calf injury in the opening-day triumph at West Brom in August, whilst youngsters Smalling and Cleverley are battling to overcome groin and foot injuries respectively.

However, Ferguson knows from past experience that just being fit is not enough to guarantee selection at Anfield.

He also believes players must have an added edge to cope with such a turbulent fixture.

"The most important thing is the work they do before the internationals finish," Ferguson told MUTV.

"We really want to have Vidic and Cleverley doing some really strong work, and Smalling too, that would bring them on to a level that they could play at Anfield.

"You can't go there with players who are semi-fit or just coming back from injury. You need players who are fully focused and up to speed in terms of fitness and sharpness."