Luis Suarez helped Uruguay to the World Cup semi-finals back in 2010, but he believes they could fare even better in Qatar this year.
Luis Suarez believes Uruguay have enough quality in their squad to win the World Cup.
Uruguay finished third in their CONMEBOL qualifying group as they bounced back from a subpar start following the appointment of Diego Alonso as head coach.
They face South Korea, Portugal and Ghana in Group H in Qatar, where Suarez could be making his fourth consecutive tournament appearance.
Suarez, who rejoined Nacional in July but is set to leave when his short-term contract expires in November, believes the arrival of new Uruguayan talent offers the Celeste hope of a third World Cup title.
Asked about the rising expectations, Suarez said: “This is generated by Pajarito [Federico Valverde], Darwin [Nunez], Ronald [Araujo], and Rodri [Bentancur]. This is generated by players at the highest level in Europe.
“This is a reward for the work our country is doing. Uruguay will always try and compete at the World Cup to the maximum. To try to go as far as possible and why not be champions? Because we have the players for that.”
“Even though we know the difficulty that every game in the World Cup presents, we always believe in it.”
Suarez is Uruguay’s all-time top scorer with 68 goals in 132 games, while only Diego Godin (159), Edinson Cavani and Fernando Muslera (both 133) have featured more often for the side.
The former Liverpool and Barcelona forward played a major role as Uruguay reached the semi-finals of the 2010 World Cup, although he famously received a red card for a goal-saving handball against Ghana in the quarter-finals.
He called the prospect of a fourth tournament a source of great satisfaction.
“It gives you a sense of pride to have the chance to play a fourth World Cup in a row,” Suarez said.
“It is the pride of our country and also my own pride that I have always fought and performed well in the national team.