Huth ready to stake claim

Middlesborough's injury-prone German defender Robert Huth, who came close to quitting the game, says time is running out for him to prove to head coach Joachim Loew he is ready to play a role for his country in June's Euro 2008 tournament.
Having been involved in Germany's third-place finish at the 2006 World Cup, Huth switched to Middleborough from Premier League rivals Chelsea, but suffered an injury ravaged first season in the north of England.
An operation for an ankle injury and a stress fracture has kept him out for the best part of 18 months, but having made his return to the 'Boro team just before New Year's Eve, he is ready to stake his claim.
Now the 23-year-old is desperate to add to his 17 caps and secure his place at the heart of Germany's defence for June's Euro 2008 tournament in Austria and Switzerland.
"I want to go to the European championships, it's all I thought about while I was going through rehab," he told German sports magazine Kicker.
Huth is hoping to be involved in Germany's Euro 2008 warm-up games against Austria (February 6) and Switzerland (March 26), but is aware time is running out.
"I am concerned that time is running out to prove myself.
"You only need to look at the calendar to see how few games we have left.
"After every injury set-back, the games were ticked off, one by one.
"Now the friendly games against Austria and Switzerland are my only remaining hope."
His last cap was in the 3-0 win pool match of the 2006 World Cup against Ecuador and while the rest of Germany was celebrating finishing third in the competition, for Huth the tournament was not so enjoyable.
"For me personally, the World Cup was disappointing, because I had planned so much, but not achieved my goals," he said.
Having been injured virtually from the end of the World Cup, Huth admits his nightmare nearly forced him to retire from the game.
"I had some pretty bad thoughts, because things weren't moving forward.
"I had the same pain in the same foot, over and over again and things were uncertain for weeks on end.
"I often asked myself if things would get better."