Uruguay striker Luis Suarez could play at the World Cup despite having
surgery on an injured knee, according to the country's football
association.
The Liverpool striker "suffered intense pain" in training on Wednesday and had an operation to repair meniscus damage.
"Suarez might be ready to play in Brazil," said the Uruguay Football Association (AUF) in a statement.
Estimates on his recovery range from 15 days to a minimum of four weeks with Uruguay's Group D opener on 14 June.
They then face England in their second group game in Sao Paulo on 19 June.
The statement added that "no other damage to the knee was spotted".
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
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."
Manchester United and England defender Phil Jones took
10 weeks to return to action after surgery on his meniscus - a wedge of
cartilage that absorbs shock in the knee -
in September 2012.
Suarez finished as this season's Premier League leading
scorer with 31 goals, despite missing the opening five matches through
suspension.
His goals helped Liverpool rise from a seventh-place finish in 2012-13 to second in 2013-14.
He also won the
Professional Footballers' Association
and
Football Writers' Association
player of the year awards this season.
Former Liverpool and Germany midfielder Dietmar Hamann
said Uruguay's World Cup chances would depend on Suarez's fitness but
expected him to make a full recovery.
Hamann told BBC Sport it would be a "huge blow" for Uruguay if Suarez does not recover.
"I'm not sure they would be contenders without him," he added.
"With him, they are, but the fact he had the operation
after the season finished, it may only be a minor surgery, so I fully
expect him to be fit and raring to go for the World Cup.
"If he is fit, which I expect him to be, he will one of the key players not only for Uruguay but in the World Cup."
Suarez finished as top scorer in the South American
section of World Cup qualifying, scoring 11 goals as Uruguay finished
fifth in the continent's nine-team group before winning a play-off.
He is also a proven performer at major tournaments, helping Uruguay to the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup and
scoring four times as his side won the Copa America the following year.
His partnership with Paris St-Germain striker Edinson Cavani is a key part of coach Oscar Tabarez's plans
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