Chivu boost for Roma

Roma's Cristian Chivu on the ball. Roma's hopes of finishing in the top four of Serie A and claiming a place in next season's Champions League have been given a major boost by the return to action of Chivu.

Roma's hopes of finishing in the top four of Serie A and claiming a place in next season's Champions League have been given a major boost by the return to action of Cristian Chivu.

The 24-year-old Romania international, who has been plagued by knee problems for 10 months, played 45 minutes in a friendly match in the capital on Thursday.

Roma are hoping the central defender will be available to play against current league leaders Juventus on March 5.

Chivu missed the start of the season after having foot surgery and did not make his first appearance until November 3 when he came on as a second-half substitute against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.

But after suffering a setback against the German side he had to have more treatment and has been sidelined ever since.

Chivu joined Roma from Dutch giants Ajax in July 2003 for a fee of 18 million euros (23.5 million dollars) and signed a five-year contract.

He was a regular in the Roma side that took second place in Serie A behind AC Milan in 2003/04.

Roma are seventh in the league, five points behind fourth-placed Udinese with 14 games left to play.