Ljungberg ready for debut

Swedish star Freddie Ljungberg says he will play this weekend for the first time since last summer.

The midfielder for the expansion Seattle Sounders FC of Major League Soccer said after practice Thursday that he expects to play about 30 minutes Saturday night as a reserve against Real Salt Lake.

The 31-year-old had surgery on his left hip in December.

“Now it feels great,” said Ljungberg, who tore a labrum in his hip. “I haven’t felt like this in years. It’s 100 percent.”

He hasn’t played since June, for Sweden at the European Championship. Ljungberg says he is about a month ahead of doctors’ original estimates for his return, thanks to rigorous rehabilitation.

“I’ve been feeling good, so it shouldn’t be a problem,” he said. “I’ll probably play part of the game at least, so I don’t overdo it. It’s a long season, and I don’t want to push it.”

Sounders coach Sigi Schmid confirmed that Ljungberg is part of his game plan, even if it’s only as a reserve this week.

“It makes more sense for him to come off the bench in this game,” said Schmid, adding that how many minutes Ljungberg actually plays will be dictated by the flow of the game. “The one thing we don’t want to do is push too early and push too hard and suffer a setback. We’re in Game 2 (of the regular season). We want to make sure he’s around for the other 28.”

Seattle is paying Ljungberg $1.3 million per season as one the MLS’ designated players. He was one of the top offensive midfielders in the English Premier League a few years ago with Arsenal.

Though it might be tempting for Schmid to start Ljungberg for the Seattle fans, more than 32,000 of whom came out for the team’s inaugural game on March 19 against 2008 MLS Cup runner-up New York, he prefers to take the cautious approach for now.

“He has trained hard and had a good week. He has come through each training session feeling better than the last day, which is real good for us,” Schmid said.

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