Suarez leads Olympic line for Uruguay

World Cup strikers Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani will lead Uruguay’s attack in the Olympic football tournament at the London Games. Suarez and his Liverpool team mate Sebastian Coates were named along with Napoli’s Cavani in a 18-man squad officially announced by the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) yesterday.

Midfielder Egidio Arevalo Rios, of Mexico’s Tijuana, who is 29, and 25-year-olds Suarez and Cavani, all members of the Uruguay side that reached the 2010 World Cup semi-finals, are the three permitted over-age players in the under-23 squad.

Uruguay are back in the Olympic football tournament for the first time since they won successive gold medals in 1924 and 1928. Twice silver medal winners Brazil also represent South America but Argentina, who won the last two tournaments in Athens and Beijing, did not qualify for the London Games. Uruguay are in Group A with hosts Great Britain, Senegal and United Arab Emirates.

Squad – Goalkeepers: Martin Campana (Cerro Largo), Leandro Gelpi (Penarol). Defenders: Sebastian Coates (Liverpool), Diego Polenta

(Genoa), Ramon Arias (Defensor Sporting), Alexis Rolin (Nacional), Emiliano Albin (Penarol), Matias Aguirregaray (Palermo). Midfielders: Egidio Arevalo Rios (Tijuana), Maximiliano Calzada (Nacional), Diego Rodriguez (Defensor Sporting), Gaston Ramirez (Bologna), Nicolas Lodeiro (Ajax Amsterdam), Jonathan Urretaviscaya (Vitoria de Guimaraes). Forwards: Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Edinson Cavani (Napoli), Abel Hernandez (Palermo), Tabare Viudez (Nacional).