Luis Suarez gets chance to prove fitness for Costa Rica clash
Less than a month after knee surgery, Uruguay plan to give star striker as much time as needed to be 100 per cent fit
Uruguay will give star striker Luis Suarez every chance to prove his fitness less than a month after having knee surgery ahead of their World Cup opener with Costa Rica in Fortaleza.
The Premier League Player of the Year had an operation to repair damage to the meniscus in his left knee on May 22, but has remained steadfast in his determination to feature in Brazil.
"I want to tell everyone that the recovery is going very well and that the knee feels good. Everything depends on how things go day by day, but it is going well," Suarez said via his official Twitter account.
First we just think about him as a person rather than a footballer and protect him ... and we are getting closer to the dream that he will be with us
"I want to thank you all for the messages of support I have received throughout the week and my mind is now focused on the World Cup."
But with tougher tests on paper in England and Italy to come for the 2010 semi-finalists later in group D, coach Oscar Tabarez may be tempted to give his star a few extra days to recover.
"If it was down to me, then Suarez would play," said Tabarez.
"His path from the under-20 side to now has been incredible, but first we just think about him as a person rather than a footballer and protect him. Then we can go step by step and we are getting closer to the dream that he will be with us."