Luis Suarez Ends Biting Ban From World Cup, Included in Uruguay Squad
Luis Suarez will be lining up against his Barcelona teammate Neymar in World Cup qualifier game between Brazil and Uruguay.
- Associated Press
- Updated: March 24, 2016 07:04 pm IST
Uruguay striker Luis Suarez is set to make his comeback to international football, almost two years after being banned for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini at the 2014 World Cup. (Read More in Football)
His team faces Brazil in a key World Cup qualifier in the northeast Brazilian city of Recife, part of a region at the epicenter of the outbreak of the mosquito-borne virus Zika.
"Suarez should be emotional; should have many things going on in his head after being away from the team," Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez said.
Suarez will be lining up against Barcelona teammate Neymar in a game that is expected to draw a large crowd of traveling fans from Uruguay.
Four other matches are set for Thursday: Ecuador vs Paraguay, Bolivia vs Colombia, Chile vs Argentina and Peru vs Venezuela.
Ecuador leads South American qualifying with 12 points, three points ahead of Uruguay and five in front of Brazil, Paraguay and Chile.
Ecuador will be at home against Paraguay in Quito where it always has a powerful home advantage playing in thin air at 2,850 meters (9,350 feet).
Argentina, the World Cup runner-up two years ago, has only five points and Colombia, which reached the quarterfinals, has only four points.
Argentina has a tough match playing at Copa America champion Chile, which will be under new coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, who replaced Jorge Sampaoli.
Colombia will also have to fight the altitude in La Paz, Bolivia, which presents an even greater challenge than Quito at 3,600 meters (11,800 feet) in the Andes.