Luis Suarez knee surgery rocks Uruguay

Reports coming out of Uruguay claim the South American nation, who are 28/1 shots to win the World Cup with Coral this summer, could be without star striker Luis Suarez because of a knee injury.

Liverpool frontman and 2013/14 leading Premier League marksman Suarez, 27, is believed to have damaged his meniscus and must undergo keyhole surgery to repair the damage. This raises doubts over his fitness for the Group D game against England, which takes place on June 19th.

Suarez is his country’s record scorer and netted 31 times for Brendan Rodgers as the Reds finished second behind Manchester City in the English top-flight this term. He will also be a major doubt for Uruguay’s opening game of the tournament on June 14th against Costa Rica, although La Celeste have released a statement saying they expect him to be fit for the finals.

Media reports also noted that the recovery period for such an operation is two to three weeks. Suarez looks set to miss both of Uruguay’s warm-up friendlies against Northern Ireland and Slovenia, both at home in Montevideo.

Oscar Tabarez has always utilised Suarez, who got 11 goals in the South American section of World Cup qualifying, in the La Celeste XI, pairing him with PSG attacker Edinson Cavani in a front two or front three on occasion.

There are other options open to Uruguay, including former Manchester United forward Diego Forlan. Tabarez has preferred to use the veteran in the hole behind the Cavani and Suarez partnership, however.

Palermo striker Abel Hernandez and Espanyol’s Christian Stuani will both now fancy their chances of making the cut into the final 23-man roster for the World Cup finals, held in neighbouring Brazil.

Suarez scored three goals at the last World Cup in South Africa to help Uruguay finish fourth. La Celeste are 15/8 second-favourites behind Italy to top Group D.