SUAREZ TO STILL GO TO WORLD CUP AFTER SURGERY

Liverpool striker Luis Suarez has undergone minor knee surgery but has not been ruled out of the World Cup.

The 27-year-old injured the meniscus in his left knee while training with the national side and after an MRI scan it was decided to send the player for a minor operation.

Suarez's arthroscopic surgery lasted about 30 minutes and he is likely to be sidelined for at least a couple of weeks but Uruguay officials remain confident he will be fit for the World Cup

"Yesterday, Wednesday May 21, Luis Suarez suffered an intense pain in his left knee after an undergoing a normal warm up," said a statement from the Uruguay Football Association (AUF).The South American's first match is against Costa Rica on June 15 before they face England in Sao Paolo on June 19.

"He had an MRI scan which confirmed a partial lesion of the external meniscus of his left knee.

"On Thursday morning, he underwent an arthroscopic partial resection of his meniscus in the Medica Uruguaya hospital (Montevideo).

"There was no evidence of any further damage to the knee.

"His participation to the World Cup in Brazil has not been ruled out."

"It is worth noting the player received a blunt trauma to his left knee in the final game of the Premier League season against Liverpool on Sunday May 11 which provoked a pain that subsided due to rest at the end of the season.''

The 'blunt trauma' was a reference to a knock Suarez received from Newcastle's Paul Dummett. The 22-year-old was sent off after catching Suarez in what looked an accidental collision, and his red card was later rescinded.

That did not stop Uruguay fans taking to Twitter to castigate the Newcaslte man though, with one sending him a death threat via the social-media network.

Former Wales Under-21 player Dummett is hoping Suarez recovers in time to feature at the World Cup, and insists there was no intention to hurt behind his tackle.

He told the Daily Mirror: "The challenge was inadvertent. I hit him and the ball with my left foot and he went down under the challenge.

"I hope he makes the World Cup because he is one of the best players in the world so he should be there.

"Having said that, I injured my meniscus three years ago and I was out for three months, so it will depend on the injury and exactly where it is on the knee.''

Suarez is convinced he can be fit in time for the tournament, telling Uruguayan newspaper La Ovacion: "Thank you all for the support. I'll work quietly and very hard in the coming days to be 100 per cent and help my team-mates."

Uruguay FA president Wilmar Valdez suggested if Suarez's recovery went to plan he could return to training in just over a fortnight.

"We know the surgery was a success and that the injury is not serious. We have to wait and see how he recovers," he told La Ovacion.

"We had very little time to react and without knowing the extent of the injury, we didn't want to raise the alarm to the public.

"These are injuries that, considering Suarez's fitness and if the recovery is good, will not take long for him to return to play.

"We have to calculate if he will arrive for the first, second of third (group game at the World Cup).

"We know that normally the recovery period, if all goes well, is around 15 days to return to training.

"We all know what Luis represents to the national team and more so, considering the great form he was in.

"Considering how valuable he is to the national team, it is a big concern for us."

Suarez, who was named the Professional Footballers' Association and Football Writers' Association player of the year after scoring 31 league goals, is his country's all-time leading scorer with 39 in 77 appearances.