The list of injured stars unable to suit up for next month’s World Cup is brimming with recognizable names and faces, but it may have just added a headliner.
Mere weeks before the 2014 World Cup kicks off in Rio De Janeiro on June 12, the health of one of the world’s best player’s is in up in the air after Uraguay forward Luis Suarez underwent keyhole (aka arthroscopic) surgery on Thursday morning when an MRI scan after a training session revealed damage taken to the meniscus in his knee.
Uraguay’s official Roberto Pastoriza told the newspaper El Pais that he was simply optimistic that Suarez would return in time for the World Cup.
Suarez’s mother is more confident claiming that he son will be ready to return in two to three weeks. The average recovery period for this procedure is approximately four to six weeks and Suarez’s timing is pushing it as his La Celeste side takes the pitch against Costa Rica on June 14 against Costa Rica.
Losing Suarez for the World Cup would be crippling to Uraguay’s dark horse odds of winning FIFA's most prestigious tournament for the first time since the1950 World Cup in Brazil.
Suarez last being seen on the World Cup stage using his hands to instinctively knock down a match-winning goal for Ghana in the 2010 semis. Uraguay would prevail in a shootout and since then Suarez has become one of international football’s most eccentric and polarizing characters. However, he’s also evolved into one of its most prolific scorers and the reigning EPL Player of the Year capable of making just as much noise on the pitch with his skill and nose for the goal as he does with his antics.
The most demoralizing aspect of Suarez’s absence for La Celeste is that Suarez is rolling into this summer at the peak of his popularity and performance while a Bloomberg Sports study named him the most influential player on any pitch among Europe’s top five European divisions ahead of Messi and Ronaldo.
