HARRY Kewell should recover from a groin injury in time to play for Australia in the World Cup.

HARRY Kewell should recover from a groin injury in time to play for Australia in the World Cup.

The 31-year-old former Leeds and Liverpool winger is expected to join team training in Johannesburg on Thursday.

Coach Pim Verbeek told reporters in South Africa that Kewell had impressed him greatly in the past few days and that it was only a matter of time before he was able to join in with his team-mates.

The injury-prone midfielder has only played a few minutes for Turkish side Galatasary in 2010 and won’t be fit enough to face Denmark in a friendly today.

“I think everybody who saw training yesterday saw that Harry was ready,” said Australia’s Dutch manager Verbeek.

“He will be part of the team after the Denmark game. That’s good news. I think we’ll do a good session with him tomorrow again. He had a good session today. “From Thursday on he will be training normally with the team.”

Verbeek added that Kewell would still be limited in his training regime, participating in only the early part of the sessions with his team-mates until early next week.

However, the Australia coach is confident his talisman will be ready to take on Germany in their World Cup opener in Durban on June 13.

Versatile Blackburn player Brett Emerton is the other injury concern for Australia. The experienced midfielder, 31, is getting over a minor calf strain and could take on the USA on Saturday.