Suarez undergoes minor knee surgery

The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) have confirmed that the 27-year-old had an operation in his homeland after suffering "severe pain" in his left knee in training on Wednesday.

Scans showed Suarez had sustained a "partial lateral meniscus injury", but the striker has not been ruled out of Uruguay's World Cup campaign.

The AUF also revealed that Suarez received a "blunt trauma" to the same knee during the final game of Liverpool's Premier League season against Newcastle United at Anfield earlier this month.

After reports of Suarez's injury surfaced in the Uruguayan media, it was thought the forward could be sidelined for between four to six weeks.

Such a layoff would have almost certainly caused the Liverpool forward out of his country's World Cup opener against Costa Rica in Fortaleza on June 14, as well as their clashes with England and Italy on June 19 and 24 respectively.

However, the AUF have insisted Suarez's injury does not necessarily mean he will miss any of the action in Brazil.

Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez is sure to have breathed a huge sigh of relief at that news, as Suarez was his team's driving force in reaching the finals, scoring 11 of their 25 goals in the regular CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying section.

Suarez - Uruguay's all-time record goalscorer - also enjoyed a stunning campaign at club level, netting 31 goals in 33 games to inspire Liverpool's ultimately fruitless Premier League title challenge.

That haul earned him the honour of sharing the European Golden Shoe award with Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo, as well as a clean-sweep in English football's end-of-season awards.