El Salvador striker Arturo Alvarez said he expects to play against Costa Rica Thursday.
The U.S.-born midfielder from Houston said he has fully recovered from a left hamstring strain he suffered during training more than a week agoo and should be in the starting lineup when "La Selecta" faces Los Ticos at Bank of America Stadium.
"I've been training ever since we got here to North Carolina. Three solid days of good work and slowly but surely trying to get back into that level of fitness that I was at before getting injured," said Alvarez, who plays for Major League Soccer's Real Salt Lake. "Hopefully I will get to play tomorrow. I want to play and I think I will be part of the (starters), or if the coach needs a sub, I will be ready."
Alvarez kicked some balls around and appeared to move efficiently during the first 15 minutes of training Wednesday before reporters were ushered away, closing the remainder of the practice session.The 26-year-old slowly walked off the field with a large sack of ice wrapped around his left leg.
Alvarez said his rehabilitation has not been much different than on other occasions.
"I haven't had a lot of hamstring injuries before, but the ones that I've had, I've had a lot of scans and ultrasounds and stuff like that," Alvarez said. "(Had) a lot of icing but other than that, working the same."
Alvarez said he thinks the team is improving and understands coach Ruben Israel's scheme.
"The coach got here about a month and a half ago. He's a new guy and we're starting to learn the Salvadoran soccer," Alvarez said. "I think the team is doing well to help him out and adapt to the way that he wants to do things here, and I think the more games he gets, the better he's going to get."
Costa Rica vs El Salvador
Match Schedule :
Date/Time: Jun 9, 2011, 7:00pm ET
Competition: CONCACAF Gold Cup Live Stream
Live/Repeat: Costa Rica vs El Salvador Live
