Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez has refuted suggestions that Barcelona striker Luis Suarez is in need of surgery, claiming that he is still fit enough to play.
The 30-year-old has struggled to get going so far this campaign, scoring two goals in eight games for his club side and three times in 12 qualifiers stretching back to last season.
Reports in Spain last week suggested that Suarez was desperate to go under the knife to rectify a problem to his right knee, with an appointment said to have been pencilled in for the start of next month.
Tabarez is adamant that the former Liverpool ace is fine to continue playing, however, or else he would have already undergone an operation.
"If it was big enough as to be making sacrifices, they would have put him through surgery already," he told reporters. "He's in a period where he made an amazing recovery but beyond that he didn't play.
"And a player who comes here to face Argentina [in late August] and hasn't played in three or four weeks, he has to make a sacrifice to make up for that lack of physical preparation.
"From that point of view, Luis already showed a lot of tests and that's why we never discard him. He's the first one not giving up on himself, he's stubborn in a very positive way. We keep insisting with him because he's a player that appears from time to time.
"How many times during the last qualifiers we thought about substituting him and suddenly he scored goals. He has a potential that amazes us during his performances. He's fit to play and the rest of it we can reduce to a spell. Football players have spells, football teams have spells, and luckily they always end."
Suarez, who has not scored for Uruguay since October last year, could play a part against Bolivia on Tuesday.
Daniel Lewis
