Uruguay, minus Suarez, seeks to stop flying Colombians

RIO DE JANEIRO –– Uruguay must recover from the shock of losing star player Luis Suarez, who was kicked out of the World Cup for biting an opponent, if it is to stop high-scoring Colombia in an all-South American, second-round clash on Saturday.

Uruguay has long relied heavily on Suarez in attack and the controversial striker scored half of its four goals so far in the competition in Brazil.

He was thrown out of the World Cup on Thursday for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in a group match, dealing a huge setback to Uruguay, which battled its way to the semifinals of the 2010 tournament in South Africa.

Colombia heads to the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro in more buoyant mood, having won all three of its group games and racked up nine goals in the process, a tally surpassed so far only by the rampant Netherlands.

There had been fears that the loss of striker Radamel Falcao to injury before the tournament would be a big blow for Colombia, appearing at its first World Cup in 16 years.

But Falcao’s understudy Jackson Martinez has been one of the tournament’s revelations so far, helped in large part by playmaker James Rodriguez.

With those two in fine form, Colombia, under Argentine coach Jose Pekerman, has wowed crowds in Brazil with the kind of fast, flowing play that the locals demand of their own team.

The team also entertained fans with its salsa-inspired goal celebrations.

A place in the quarter-finals against Brazil is at stake on Saturday and Uruguay will be seeking to channel the spirit of 1950 — when it shocked Brazil by beating it to win the World Cup in Rio.

It will probably fall to veteran striker Diego Forlan to take the place of Suarez in the starting 11 in the Maracana as he did in Uruguay’s shock opening loss to Costa Rica in Group D while Suarez was still completing his recovery from injury.

Uruguay played poorly in that match which it lost 3-1 but looked better in the next, a 2-1 win over England when Suarez scored both goals.

After overcoming Italy 1-0 in the now infamous game in which Suarez lost his self-control, Uruguay must now cope without him again. Captain Diego Lugano vowed the team would not be distracted by his loss.

“Nothing will hold us back,” Lugano wrote on his Facebook page. “We will press on with humility, unity, determination, aware of the mistakes that have been made and with our heads always held high.”