Craig Bellamy hopes to make UAE clash

On July 29, 2012

Craig Bellamy hopes to be fit to face United Arab Emirates in Great Britain’s second match of their Olympics campaign.

Bellamy injured his knee following a clumsy challenge in the penalty area by Saliou Ciss during the opening 1-1 draw against Senegal on Thursday. However, the Liverpool player believes the problem will not prevent him from taking part in the UAE clash at Wembley, which GB are 7/1 to win 2-1.

Everything around the tournament I’ve never experienced and I’m really grateful.

Craig Bellamy

“I just tweaked my medial ligament but it should be alright… I felt physically quite good,” said the Liverpool player, who scored the opening goal of the GB campaign and is 5/1 to score first on Sunday.

“I do have to realise that I am two weeks into pre-season (training), as much as this is a competitive international.

“I think you could see (in) the last 20 minutes, half-an-hour, that it just caught us a little bit, but the great thing about football and the great thing about us is we’ve got another game coming up soon.”

The Wales international said representing his country in a tournament was a “special” experience, particularly on home soil.

He added: “Everything around the tournament I’ve never experienced and I’m really grateful; we have a great group of boys and the manager (Stuart Pearce) has been brilliant as well – this is just a special occasion, I’ve just been really fortunate to be a part of it.”