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Australia star Harry Kewell has been backed to return to full fitness before the World Cup starts (Australia 150/1 to win the World Cup).
Coach Pim Verbeek said he was happy with the way the Galatasaray forward is recovering, even though he did not train with the Socceroos squad in Monday morning’s session.
The tournament starts on June 11 in South Africa and Australia plays its first Group D game against former champion Germany two days later.
“Harry’s OK, he will go through another tough training session tomorrow… the expectation is that he will start training on Thursday with us,” Verbeek told reporters at the Socceroos’ Johannesburg training camp.
“It is good that we have 10 days and he is perfectly on track, that is exactly what we had planned.”
Kewell, one of the 20th-ranked Socceroos’ most high profile players, could play in the final friendly against the United States on Saturday.
Former national captain Paul Wade said Verbeek should start Kewell against Germany and not use him as a super sub amid speculation that he may only get a substitutes’ role against the three-time champions in Durban (Australia 11/2 to beat Germany).
“He won’t be 100 percent, we know that, so let’s use him early in a short burst,” Wade told the Daily Telegraph.
“Let him do something special and then bring on players who might be fitter and can work hard to hold a lead or even the chance of a draw.
“I can understand why they’re not risking him in the warm-up games, but at some point you’ve got to test it, and if he’s anywhere close he has to start.”
Captain Lucas Neill, meanwhile, joined the growing list of players criticising the official World Cup ball.
“On the ground, in the air it makes control difficult and it means you have to watch the ball right onto your foot,” he said.
“Any slight pass that is 10, 20 centimetres off target usually stays 10 or 20 centimetres off target and it’s hard to reach.”
The Adidas ball, known as ‘Jabulani’ which means to celebrate in Zulu, is particularly tricky for goalkeepers.
The game will be played at 1,600 metres altitude and Neill said that would make the ball even more difficult to control compared with playing at sea level.
“It’s going to be a good test for everybody and with altitude obviously that makes it that little bit harder,” he said.
“I feel sorry for the ‘keepers most of all because the ball is going to move a hell of a lot in the air.”
Spain goalkeeper Iker Casillas on Sunday described it as a “beachball” due to its light weight and unpredictable movement. Italy’s Gianluigi Buffon slammed the ball as “shameful”.
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