Ronaldinho on track for Club World Cup

October 17, 2013 03:09 pm | Updated 03:10 pm IST - Rio de Janeiro

Brazil's Ronaldinho. File photo

Brazil's Ronaldinho. File photo

Atletico Mineiro veteran Ronaldinho is expected to resume running next week, raising hopes that the injured star will be fit for the FIFA Club World Cup in December.

The two-time FIFA World Player of the Year ruptured the adductor muscle in his left groin while training with the Brazilian side late last month. Atletico Mineiro team doctor Rodrigo Lasmar said the 33-year-old was responding positively to intense physiotherapy, reports Xinhua .

“Ronaldinho has improved significantly. He is practically free of pain and has already begun light work to strengthen the muscle. The expectation is that next week he will begin running, which doesn’t mean that he is ready,” Lasmar said.

The Club World Cup, featuring each of FIFA’s six continental club champions plus the host nation’s league winners, will be played in Morocco from December 11-21.

Atletico Mineiro, who earned the right to play in the tournament by winning the Copa Libertadores final in July, are favourites to meet European champions Bayern Munich in the final.

Lasmar admitted Ronaldinho’s focus was to be fit in time for the competition.

“He still has a long recovery process ahead but so far everything is as good as we could have imagined. We are confident that he is going to be available for the Club World Cup.”

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.