Former England defender Ledley King has stated that he expects England to be well aware that Luis Suarez is not at his 100% in terms of match fitness. Hence, he wants the national team to take advantage of this fact when they take on Uruguay in the second group match. England were given a tough group stage draw, but they went into the competition with a lot of positivity. This was quickly eroded after a 2-1 defeat against Italy. Uruguay also suffered a defeat in the opening match, but Suarez was absent due to its failure to recover from the knee injury on time.
However, it is highly expected that the striker will start the match against England and this very keen on proving the likes of Roy Hodgson wrong. The former Liverpool boss questioned the status of Suarez is a world-class striker when he has not delivered at the World Cup stage often. Suarez’ telling contribution at a World Cup was his handball in order to prevent a clear goal. This was the reason for Ghana being knocked out of the 2010 World Cup. King, who has played several internationals before retiring a few years ago, says that Suarez is unlikely to be at 100%.
“England are a young team, it is important that the team don’t lose heart in the fact that it was a defeat, and still believe in themselves, because the Uruguay game is a winnable game for them. I would probably start with the same team, just get a little more tempo in England’s play. I expected more from Uruguay, Suarez coming back into the team is the only big difference. We all know what a top player he is, but hopefully he is a bit rusty and hopefully England can capitalise on that,” said King.