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With the U21 European Championships in Israel and Confederations Cup action from Brazil this summer, there was always bound to be at least a little football with Liverpool involvement for fans to keep half an eye on between the transfer rumours. Confirmation has come today, then, that Luis Suarez, Pepe Reina, and Sebastian Coates will all be heading to Brazil for this summer's World Cup warmup.
Reina, who continues to be linked with a Barcelona move, will be expected join current Barcelona 'keeper Victor Valdes in reserve for Spain as Iker Casillas returns to international action after missing much of the second half of the 2012-13 season through injury. If Casillas isn't ready to go, based on the most recent set of internationals Valdes will be favoured to start ahead of the Liverpool stopper.
Meanwhile, while Sebastian Coates' future at Liverpool may also be up in the air, as with Reina his summer seems fairly certain. The defender may have been called into the Uruguay squad for the Confederations Cup, but he will only be expected to make the bench as Oscar Tabarez' men try to rediscover something of their form from the last World Cup after struggling mightily over the past year and a half.
All told, it means Luis Suarez—along with Jordan Henderson, who will captain England's U21s—will likely be Liverpool's only senior player to see significant action this summer, with the striker a lock to start when Spain and Uruguay kick off the Confederations Cup by facing each other on June 16th. Nigeria and Tahiti join them in Group B, while World Cup hosts Brazil anchor a Group A including Italy, Mexico, and Japan.
Before then, though, Uruguay face perhaps their most important game of the year when they travel to Venezuela on the 11th of June in World Cup qualifying—with Luis Suarez suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Venezuela lead Uruguay for CONMEBOL's final World Cup qualification slot, and should Uruguay lose they will be five points off the pace with only four games remaining.
Read More: Robinson Joins U21s for Euro Trip