Luis Suarez Does Not Need Knee Surgery as Uruguay Prepare for Crunch World Cup Qualifier

Luis Suarez is fit and does not require knee surgery according to his national team manager Oscar Tabarez. 

It has been almost a year since Suarez found the net for Uruguay, that strike coming in a qualifying match against Columbia. He has also been out of form for his club also with only two goals to his name for Barcelona. 

Speaking ahead of Uruguay's final World Cup qualifier against Bolivia, Tabarez said: "If it was big enough as to be making sacrifices, they would have put him through surgery already." 

"He's in a period where he made an amazing recovery but beyond that he didn't play. And a player who comes here to face Argentina [in late August] and hasn't played in three or four weeks, he has to make a sacrifice to make up for that lack of physical preparation." 

"From that point of view, Luis already showed a lot of tests and that's why we never discard him. He's the first one not giving up on himself, he's stubborn in a very positive way." 

Instead of worrying over the player's fitness concerns, the Uruguay manager believes Suarez's poor run in front of goal is simply just being out of form and insists the striker's high standards will inevitably return. 

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"He has a potential that amazes us during his performances. He's fit to play and the rest of it we can reduce to a spell. Football players have spells, football teams have spells, and luckily they always end." 

Uruguay missed the chance to secure their spot in Russia after being held to a 0-0 draw against Venezuela on Thursday. 

They must avoid defeat against Bolivia in Montevideo on Wednesday to ensure automatic qualification. A defeat would most likely mean an inter-confederation play-off against New Zealand.