Chippers Doubt For Japan Game

as seen on au.fourfourtwo.com

Socceroo Scott Chipperfield admits he will be touch-and-go for Australia's upcoming World Cup qualifier against Japan - but he desperately wants to be fit in time.

The 33-year-old Australian international is believed to have picked up a knock on a scar, from a previous operation on his heel, whilst playing in a friendly for his Swiss club FC Basel two weeks ago.

Chipperfield hasn't been able to train since because of the pain and just last week he missed out on a move to German club Hertha Berlin after failing a medical.

Speaking on the official FC Basel website from a club training camp in Spain, Chipperfield explained the extent of the problem.

"I think in the remaining days here in Spain I shall train again with the team and the coaches and be fit again on February 7 or the week later against Grasshoppers," Chipperfield said.

Chipperfield's comment suggests he remains a doubt for the Japan match as Basel's match against Grasshoppers is scheduled to take place on February 15, four days after Australia's match in Yokohama.

But Socceroos fans can be enthused by comments from Chipperfield's club boss Christian Gross in a Swiss newspaper, after he claimed the lone goalscorer in Uzbekistan was desperate to be fit to play in Yokohama and would do all he could to be so.

Speaking in an interview with Swiss newspaper the Basler Zeitung, Gross revealed he had surprised Chipperfield by personally collecting him from Alicante airport in Spain where the Socceroo linked up with the Basel squad for a training camp, after his failed trial in the German capital.

Then the one-time Tottenham boss added the first thing Chipperfield told him at the airport was that he was desperate to be available for the Japan match.

"He asked me immediately, may I contest in Australia's important World Cup qualifier against Japan on February 11?" Gross said.