France international winger Franck Ribery remains confident he can return from a broken rib and play in the upcoming Club World Cup for Bayern Munich in December, he told sports daily Kicker on Friday.
The Ballon d’Or candidate suffered the injury during France’s dramatic 3-0 victory over Ukraine in midweek at the Stade de France, which gave Didier Deschamps’s men their ticket to next June’s World Cup in Brazil.
“From now to then (the Club world Cup), I can definitely play again,” assured the 30-year-old, who is likely to battle Christiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi for the Ballon d’Or, which will be awarded in January.
“I think I’ll be able to run again in 10 to 14 days, certainly with pain, but after that it should be fine.” he added.
Bayern, who travel to arch rivals Borussia Dortmund on Saturday with a four point lead in the Bundesliga, hope that Ribery will be on the plane to Morocco for the year ending showpiece tournament.
Coach Pep Guardiola said: “I’m not a doctor and we have a few more matches yet, but I hope he will be back on form leading up to the Club World Cup.”
Bayern are looking for their fifth trophy of the year after an unprecedented treble of Champions League, German title and German Cup, as well as the European Supercup which they won in August by beating Chelsea 2-1 in Prague.
Ribery, however, said that Tuesday’s win in Paris over a Ukraine side that had a 2-0 first-leg lead was almost as good as winning silverware.
“It was a memorable evening and like winning a trophy for me, which may mark the beginning of a new era (for France).”
“I had to play nearly 80 minutes with the injury but I gritted my teeth,” added Ribery, who is definitely ruled out for the Dortmund clash.
The Munich giants are riding a staggering 37 match unbeaten run and have already sealed their place in the last-16 of the Champions League as they prepare for Saturday’s top-of-the-table Bundesliga clash.
Written by George Coomber
