Suarez named in Uruguay squad

Luis Suarez has been named in Uruguay’s final 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup despite struggling with a knee injury.

The Liverpool forward underwent surgery to repair meniscus damage in his left knee earlier in May, casting doubt over his participation at the tournament.

However, such is his importance that he has taken his place in Oscar Tabarez’s plans after the Uruguay coach cut his party to 23 on Saturday.

The head coach has dropped Alejandro Silva and Sebastian Eguren from his provisional squad, with experienced pair Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani part of a threatening forward line.

Cristhian Stuani showed he is ready to step into the breach if Suarez is not available with a match-winning performance against Northern Ireland on Friday, the Espanyol striker scoring the only goal of the game in the 62nd minute.

Uruguay have one friendly remaining, against Slovenia in Montevideo, before their opening match of the tournament against Costa Rica on June 14.

Squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Rodrigo Munoz (Libertad), Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray), Martin Silva (Vasco da Gama)

Defenders: Martin Caceres (Juventus), Sebastian Coates (Liverpool), Jorge Fucile (Porto), Jose Maria Gimenez (Atletico Madrid), Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid), Diego Lugano (West Brom), Alvaro Pereira (Inter), Maxi Pereira (Benfica)

Midfielders: Egidio Arevalo (Tigres UANL), Walter Gargano (Parma), Alvaro Gonzalez (Lazio), Nicolas Lodeiro (Botafogo), Diego Perez (Bologna), Gaston Ramirez (Southampton), Cristian Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid)

Forwards: Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain), Diego Forlan (Cerezo Osaka), Abel Hernandez (Palermo), Cristhian Stuani (Espanyol), Luis Suarez (Liverpool).