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With a population of just over three million, when you're Uruguayan and your country's star striker and best hope for World Cup success suffers an injury two and a half weeks out from the tournament, it's kind of a big deal. The kind of big deal that gets wall-to-wall coverage.
Complaining about a knee problem in training on Wednesday, Luis Suarez was sent for an MRI in the evening that found damage to his meniscus. Twelve hours later, he has successfully undergone surgery to repair the damage—damage the Uruguayan FA believe was suffered against Newcastle.
The doctors who performed the operation have since told Uruguayan newspapers that the keyhole surgery went as well as could be expected, with no complications that could set back his recovery, one that has optimistically been set at only two to three weeks.
Suarez' mother has also spoken to the Associated Press in Uruguay about her son's surgery, its outcome, and the expected time frame for Suarez to make it back into action: "The surgery is over and thank God everything went well. What Luis had wasn't as serious as we thought."
Further reports suggest it wasn't a complete tear, and a non-invasive arthroscopy was performed using lasers, boosting Suarez' chances. Still, with only two and a half weeks before Uruguay kick off against Costa Rica, even an optimistic timeline might not get him back in time.
Barring any setbacks, though, Suarez at least appears to have a chance, something that seemed rather less likely only hours ago when pre-surgery reports only discussed a torn meniscus and the need for him to undergo an operation to repair it.
