Uruguay ‘Optimistic’ Luis Suarez Will Make World Cup After Undergoing Knee Surgery

As England fans rejoice at the prospect of Luis Suarez missing the World Cup, Uruguay have put a dampener on things by claiming they are optimistic the Liverpool striker will recover in time after undergoing knee surgery, according to reports in Uruguay.

News broke in the early hours of this morning that Suarez had picked up a knee injury in training on Wednesday and was sent for an MRI scan to assess the full extent of the problem.

It was confirmed that the Liverpool hitman had damaged the meniscus – which is cartilage in the knee joint – and would require keyhole surgery. Usually, recovery from such surgery would take between four to six weeks, so the 27-year-old was immediately considered a major doubt for the World Cup.

However, a member of Uruguay’s Football Association, Roberto Pastoriza, has now confirmed to Uruguayan media outlet  Ovacion that they are optimistic Suarez will be fit in time to take part in Brazil 2014, but they will release an official statement on Thursday.

“According to the report I received a while ago, we are optimistic that Suarez can arrive at the World Cup.”

“He picked up a sore knee and as a result was subjected to studies. It happened so fast, a few hours ago (Wednesday night).”

“Suarez decided to have an MRI after feeling a twinge in his knee – there will be an official announcement on Thursday morning… We will then know a lot more about recovery time.” Pastoriza is quoted as saying by Ovacion

Ovacion claim Suarez will undergo the operation today [Thursday] with the newspaper suggesting he could be back in just 15 days. The World Cup kick off in 21 days – that’s three weeks today – with Uruguay playing their first match against Costa Rica on June 14th, so it’s going to be touch-and-go for the Reds ace to be fully-fit for the World Cup opener.

The injury must be a minor one if the Uruguayan FA and media believe he can be back in almost two weeks from an operation that usually takes at least four weeks to recover from. Whether their confidence is well placed remains to be seen but we should know more after Suarez undergoes the surgery later today.

Obviously it would be a major boost to England if Suarez was ruled out of the World Cup. The Three Lions are due to play Uruguay in four weeks time and their chances of getting a result and making it out of the group stages would be enhanced if the PFA Player of the Year was out.