Uruguay announce 23-man squad for 2014 FIFA World Cup; recovering Luis Suarez in

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Uruguay National team

Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez has announced the final 23-man squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup tournament in Brazil, with the recovering Luis Suarez keeping his place in the squad.

Tabarez was fretting on the fitness of Liverpool striker Luis Suarez, whose World Cup dreams looked to be over after he aggravated an injury and needed knee cartilage surgery. The striker who was the club’s top scorer with 31 League goals and was voted the PFA’s Player of the Year in the Premier League last season underwent a knee cartilage surgery just nine days ago.

Another player who was doubtful was his team mate Coates, who damaged his knee ligament last August and missed most of the season. But his return to Nacional Montevideo on loan and his subsequent performances towards the end of the Uruguayan Clausura championship was enough to warrant his play as well.

Apart from that, there were no real surprises as the coach kept faith in 15 of the 23 men who helped the side finish fourth in South Africa four years ago.

Squad

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

Defenders: Maximiliano Pereira (Benfica), Diego Lugano (West Bromwich Albion), Diego Godin, Jose Maria Gimenez (both Atletico Madrid), Sebastian Coates (Liverpool), Martin Caceres (Juventus), Jorge Fucile (Porto)

Midfielders: Alvaro Gonzalez (Lazio), Alvaro Pereira (Sao Paulo), Walter Gargano (Parma), Egidio Arevalo Rios (Morelia), Diego Perez (Bologna), Cristian Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid), Gaston Ramirez (Southampton), Nicolas Lodeiro (Botafogo)

Forwards: Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Edinson Cavani (Paris St Germain), Abel Hernandez (Palermo), Diego Forlan (Cerezo Osaka), Christian Stuani (Espanyol)