Eduardo eager for return to Arsenal action

Eduardo da Silva was thrilled to get his first taste of competitive action in Croatia's 2-1 win against Romania on Wednesday since breaking his leg a year ago. "After this I would like to play for Arsenal soon," he said. "I feel good and I showed I'm ready."

No fear
The 25-year-old has not played for club or country since suffering a horrific injury in a Premier League game against Birmingham City FC on 23 February last year, but came on as a 61st-minute substitute in Wednesday's friendly and set up Niko Kranjčar to score the winner. "Everyone kept asking me about fear, but I'm glad they all saw that I'm not afraid of anything on the pitch and am ready to play," said the striker, who joined Arsenal FC from NK Dinamo Zagreb in July 2007.

'The old Eduardo'
"Only at the moment I went on to the pitch did I feel a little twinge of nerves in the pit of my stomach, but after I got my first touch of the ball, that feeling went away. The most important thing is that I am back and that I showed I can play. For the second goal, I saw Niko and passed to him. My team-mates all congratulated me, but I have much more work to do if I am to become the old Eduardo."

Arsenal ambition
The Brazilian-born player, who took Croatian citizenship in 2002, has been playing in reserve games for Arsenal since December, but has yet to return to competitive action. Eduardo, who scored four goals in his first 17 Premier League games, is eager to remedy that. "After this, I would like to play for Arsenal soon," he said. "I feel good and I showed I'm ready." Arsenal meet AS Roma in the UEFA Champions League first knockout round. They lie fifth in the Premier League, five points behind Chelsea FC in the race for the fourth UEFA Champions League berth.