Uruguay's Luiz Suarez says he is 100 percent fit for England match

Uruguay striker Luis Suárez has given his teammates and coaching staff the news that they had been waiting for. After putting in extra work during training, the star forward has declared himself "100 percent" fit for Uruguay's big upcoming match against England.

Suarez was not used during Uruguay's 3-1 loss to Costa Rica in their World Cup opener, but he will be joining the lineup for the pivotal match on Thursday at Arena Corinthians in São Paulo, if his words are to be believed.

“I was looking forward to getting involved and I wanted to help [against Costa Rica], but maybe it was better I didn’t because fate could have played a trick on me and set me back again,” Suárez said, via the Guardian. “But I’ve done everything I had to do. I haven’t missed a day of recovery time and I’m 100 percent fit, otherwise I wouldn’t be here. I’m training with the team again and I feel in good condition. I never lost the joy and the desire and I never thought I was going to lose out on playing in the World Cup because of injury."

Having Suarez on the field against England will be a big help for the Uruguayan side, thanks to some familiarity the forward has with England's national players during his time with Liverpool.

“I know all the players in the England team, either as teammates at Liverpool or as rivals at other clubs in the Premier League," Suarez said. "They have defensive weaknesses that we can exploit but I’m not going to tell the media how we will do so. We have to play our own way, with our own style, if we are going to progress. But trust in us. No one wants us to go forward in the tournament more than we do as a team.”

Uruguay and England sit at the bottom of Group D after tournament-opening losses.