Uruguay’s Suarez may not play England but looking forward to Liverpool reunion

LONDON // The Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has said he will definitely be fit enough to play at the World Cup, but said it was not certain that it would be in time to face England on June 19.

Suarez injured a knee while training with his Uruguay teammates and had surgery on May 22.

In The Guardian, he said that even if he did not play in the Group D match he would bring enough shirts to exchange with Liverpool teammates in the England squad, such as Steven Gerrard, Daniel Sturridge, Glen Johnson and Raheem Sterling.

“I’ve already told Gerrard that we’ll swap shirts, and Glen will ask for my shirt, I’m sure. Maybe Daniel and Raheem will, as well,” Suarez said, neglecting to mention another Liverpool teammate, Jordan Henderson.

Suarez has been down this road before with teammates. He was an Ajax player when he was suspended for the semi-final against the Netherlands at the 2010 World Cup, after his handball saved a goal against Ghana.

“I had to tell the kit man I needed five shirts,” he said.

“Although I didn’t play, they still wanted my shirt; they have the date and the match stitched into them, so it’s a nice reminder of the match. So, yes, I’ll swap shirts. I’m not sure I’ll actually put it on though.”

Suarez, whose surgery was conducted by the brother of his boyhood football idol Enzo Francescoli, said the group game with England had engendered a remarkable level of interest.

“This is the game everyone is looking forward to the most,” he said. “It’s incredible to see how Uruguayans have followed Liverpool; they’ve become fans and that makes me feel very proud.

“To see an entire country waiting on the Liverpool games is incredible or to see people angry because they can’t watch it because it’s only on satellite TV. People are getting up early in the morning to watch us play.”

He discounted reports he is not being forthcoming about his fitness after a photograph seemingly captured him walking without difficulty when he lunched with his Uruguay teammates last week.

“That picture was from two years ago,” he said. “I went in the back door and no one saw me, and I was limping a little bit.”

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Japan

The midfielder Keisuke Honda says Japan will produce “a miracle” and advance to the quarter-finals, he told Nikkan Sports. “First, we can 100 per cent get through our group. We’re good enough now to reach the quarter-finals,” the AC Milan player said. “Obviously, we all need to stay fit, but if we do the basics right 100 per cent, no mistakes, we can get to the quarter-finals. From there, we can make miracles happen. I’m not talking idealistically, I’m being realistic.” Japan are in Group C with Ivory Coast, Greece and Colombia, and completed intense warm-weather training in Japan and Florida before flying to Brazil.

Spain

Vicente del Bosque, the Spain coach, discounted claims that his team know only tika-taka football, and also conceded they are anything but a popular side in Brazil. “We are not Talibans with just one way of playing,” he told Marca newspaper. “Possession without having depth has no point. For that reason we are working so that the team can pressure to win back possession and then as a group attack. Football is played in many different ways and there isn’t just one.” On the reception Spain got at the Confederations Cup last year, he said: “It is true that they whistled at us in the stadiums but I think that there is a lot of respect with this as they see us as a dangerous threat.”

France

Didier Deschamps, the France coach, told his team not to put much stock in an 8-0 friendly victory over Jamaica. “It was a very good evening in terms of giving a huge boost to the players confidence, but without, I hope, breeding overconfidence,” he said. His players seemed pleased to have scored so easily, especially after their star winger Franck Ribery left the team Friday because of a back injury. Karim Benzema and Blaise Matuidi each scored twice, and the latter said it was time to move forward. “Ribery is a loss, but we have to stop talking about it and get on without him,” the Paris Saint-Germain player said.

Brazil

Asked whether he would like to see the hosts play Argentina in the final next month, the Brazil legend Pele said the ideal result for the hosts would be to reach the final and defeat Uruguay, who inflicted a traumatic loss on Brazil in the championship match in Rio de Janeiro 64 years ago. “I would prefer to have a Brazil v Uruguay final in order that we could avenge our defeat in 1950,” Pele said.

Chile

Arturo Vidal, the valuable midfielder, remains an injury doubt for Chile’s opener against Australia. The Juventus dead-ball specialist yesterday did not train with his teammates at their base in Belo Horizonte. He has been struggling with inflammation in his knee since having an operation on May 7 for a meniscus problem. Vidal played 15 minutes in a friendly last week, but has not trained since.

Germany

Marco Reus, who has been ruled out of the World Cup because of injury, is not for sale, Borussia Dortmund manager Michael Zorc has insisted. “Firstly, Marco Reus has himself said he will play next season at Dortmund,” Zorc told the daily Die Welt. “And secondly, it would be of no use to make an offer because we have no intention of letting Marco go,” he added of reports linking Barcelona with a €35 million (Dh175m) bid for the player, who hurt his ankle in a friendly last week.