Some good news has come out of Germany this week, as two-time World Cup veteran Steve Cherundolo is nearing a return to the field—albeit not as quickly as some U.S. fans might like.

Cherundolo hasn’t played a minute for his club team Hannover 96 since a 5-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund in the third round of the DFB Pokal last December, and on February 6 he underwent arthroscopic on his left knee.

Hannover 96 press officer Dirk Köster confirmed the 34-year-old fullback has returned to practice and is allowed to train with a ball, but he still isn’t back to full training. Köster also said the team still doesn’t have a timetable for return to game action.

“He’s back to training with a ball, but he’s not training with the team,” Köster said. “Because of that, we can’t say how much longer (until he can return to match action).”

The status of his backup, Timothy Chandler, is less-foggy.

The German-American right back suffered a hamstring muscle strain in Nuremberg’s 3-0 win over Schalke on Saturday, according to reports out of Nuremberg. Chandler left the match in the 84th minute.

Chandler told the Nürnberger Zeitung that he couldn’t play this weekend, but he should recover from the injury quickly.

“I made an unfortunate movement,” Chandler said in the Nürnberger Zeitung. “I definitely couldn’t play this weekend. But I think I will be fit by the next match (for Nuremberg).”

“It is very unfortunate. I could have helped the team in World Cup qualification.”

As for the Hoffenheim duo of Danny Williams and Fabian Johnson, Williams came down with the flu this weekend and Johnson is still dealing with a hip injury that forced him to miss his club’s last two matches, according to Hoffenheim’s Web site.

Williams was expected to return to practice yesterday, while Johnson will not until the end of the week.

Mathew Wagner is ASN's Europe correspondent.