Liverpool’s season went right down to the wire. Up to the final match day, there was a chance the Reds could be champions. That meant it was vital that Luis Suárez, who’d scored 31 goals in his previous 32 games, play from the start.
Unfortunately for Uruguay fans, Suárez picked up an injury in that final match. The following week, the forward underwent knee surgery to repair meniscus damage, and national team coach Óscar Tabárez included him on the final 23-man roster.
Suárez has yet to train with the squad, but teammate Cristian Rodríguez says the 27-year-old is focused, putting in double and triple workouts in an attempt to be ready for Uruguay’s first match.
Tabárez, however, has no idea when his star will be ready to play. The coach said, “As we have no set deadlines, I don’t know if we’ll have him for the first match, for the second, for the third. If it were up to me, Suarez would play tomorrow.”
Suárez now finds himself in a race against time. Uruguay’s first match is Saturday, June 13. They face Costa Rica in Forteleza at 3 p.m. ET. Their other Group D opponents, England and Italy, face off later in the evening. Drawn into such a challenging group, la celeste certainly would like Suárez up and running as soon as possible.
After all, no one is really expecting the 35-year-old Diego Forlán, who had five goals in South Africa, to repeat that same trick this time around. Are they?