Real Madrid are keeping their fingers crossed that France star Zinedine Zidane will be fit in time for their Champions League preliminary round match next week after he picked up a foot injury in Sunday’s 4-0 friendly thrashing of Japan’s Tokyo Verdy.
Zidane was forced to leave the field with a bloodied left foot in the 60th minute after Verdy’s Kentaro Hayashi stamped on him.
”Zidane is in pain and we are going to carry out a few tests to work on our first impressions [of the injury] and see what treatment should follow,” said Real club doctor Alfonso del Corral.
He explained Zidane received anti-inflammatories and had to apply ice to the injury on the way home from Japan and now faces a race against time to play the Poles of Wisla Krakow or WIT Georgia.
The Spaniards will travel for the first leg on August 10 or 11 with the return a fortnight later.
”We hope he will recover in time to play the Champions League preliminary,” said Del Corral.
The 32-year-old former Juventus and Bordeaux star is rumoured to be mulling his retirement from the French national team and was due to talk with new national coach Raymond Domenech on Tuesday.
On Friday Domenech urged Zidane to postpone international retirement and stay on to help guide the side to the 2006 World Cup finals. — Sapa-AFP