Target set

Reyna eyes return from knee injury at Gold Cup in July

RICHMOND, Va. (Reuters) -- A year after leading the United States to their best World Cup finals finish, U.S. captain Claudio Reyna is focusing on making his international return from injury.

The Sunderland midfielder, who has been waging a fitness battle after being sidelined for eight months following knee surgery, was on the bench on Sunday when the U.S. defeated New Zealand 2-1 in a friendly international.

But a strained calf, an injury picked up in training earlier in the week, kept the 29-yar-old out of U.S. coach Bruce Arena's plans.

Reyna also prepared for the Americans' friendly against Wales last month, but did not play and he is not in the squad for the Confederations Cup that begins on June 18 in France.

"The knee feels really good right now," said Reyna. "It's just the calf that's giving me some problems."

Reyna, who joined Sunderland from Rangers in 2002, was named one of the top players at the 2002 World Cup where the U.S. fell to Germany 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

"Considering the injury happened about eight months ago, I'm satisfied where I am right now as far as fitness goes," said Reyna, who was unavailable to Sunderland during their failed bid to avoid relegation from the English premier league.

"I'd love to be part of the team for Confederations Cup, but I need to get some matches before going into a competition like that."

A veteran of three World Cup squads, Reyna has won 92 caps and scored eight goals for his country.

"I'm hopeful that I will be ready for the [CONCACAF] Gold Cup," he said. "But that's just a target right now, not a deadline.

"Bruce [Arena] knows that I want to come back, so we're just going to see where my fitness is ahead of the Gold Cup."

The 12-nation Gold Cup runs July 12-27 in Foxboro, Mass., Miami and Mexico City.

 

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