Liverpool striker Luis Suarez insists he will recover before the start of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil despite recently undergoing surgery after suffering a knee injury during training.
The Uruguayan FA has confirmed the former Ajax striker underwent keyhole surgery at the Medica Uruguaya hospital on Thursday after he sustained a meniscus injury during training sessions with his national side in Montevideo a day earlier.
Although many feared that the Uruguayan would be missing out on the World Cup, as a meniscus takes a lot of time to heal, Suarez is confident of recovering before the tournament kicks off on 12 June.
"Be calm - I am going to get there. Thanks for all your support. I am going to work really hard in the coming days to be at 100 percent and help my team-mates," Suarez told South American radio station Ovacion.
Uruguayan FA president Wilmar Valdez also confirmed the surgery was a success and Suarez would be back in action after 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. 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," Wilmar Valdez told Uruguayan newspaper La Ovacion.
"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 or 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."
The Uruguayan FA also released an official statement confirming the Premier League Golden Boot winner has not been ruled out of the World Cup.
"The AUF medical service states that yesterday, Wednesday May 21, the player Luis Suarez, after a normal warm-up, while working with the football suffered intense pain in his left knee. An MRI scan confirmed a partial injury to the external meniscus in his left knee. This morning, a partial removal of the meniscus was carried out via arthroscopy. There is no confirmation of other issues in the knee. His participation in the World Cup in Brazil is not ruled out," read the statement .
Suarez showed brilliant form this past season in the English Premier League, winning pretty much all individual accolades, and nearly inspiring Liverpool to the title. The striker would have been a huge miss for Uruguay, if the injury had ended up being more serious, but the South American side will now be relieved to know one of their premier players will play a major part in their quest for the World Cup.
