LUIS SUAREZ provided one of the most iconic images of the 2010 World Cup, jubilantly reeling away into the tunnel as Ghana thumped the bar with a penalty awarded as a result of the Uruguayan's timely punch on the line in the dying moments of their quarter-final.
And just as the Liverpool striker stole all the media attention four years ago, the column space and cameras have once again been solely fixed on him as Uruguay prepare for their opening tie against Costa Rica.
This time, instead of the questionable use of his hands, it is the 27-year-old's knee attracting a mixture of concern for Uruguay and relief for his Group B opponents. An operation in late May to repair meniscus damage cast major doubts over Suarez's availability for the World Cup and it is likely he will be rested today for what is widely perceived as Uruguay's easiest test in the group stages.
However, the widespread hysteria concerning the Barclays Premier League top scorer's fitness seems to undermine an extremely strong and experienced Uruguay side who can pose a threat regardless.
Their firepower without the divisive forward is hardly lacklustre with Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan expected to form a front pairing tonight in Fortaleza.
Forlan, who now plies his trade in the Japanese A-League, scooped up the Golden Ball award for the best player at the 2010 World Cup and played a key role in Uruguay's 2011 Copa America triumph.
While the former Manchester United man is an ageing force at 35, his set piece prowess and propensity to pull out vital goals in the biggest games is undeniable.
Equally, his strike partner Edinson Cavani boasts an enviable goal scoring record, hitting the net 25 times in 43 games in his debut season for Paris Saint-Germain.
The £55m man's hold-up ability and link play is worthy of respect, even if he does not have Suarez to collect his knock-downs. Behind them, in midfield, reside the tigerish Walter Gargano, pacy Atletico Madrid winger Cristian Rodriguez and the tricky Gaston Ramirez.
The battle-hardened defensive duo of Diego Godin and captain Diego Lugano have struck up a lengthy relationship based on strong tackling and aerial domination. Atletico defender Godin will have caught many an eye with his heroic performance in the Champions League final against Real Madrid where every ball into the danger area seemed effortlessly swept clear.
On Wednesday, he seemed undeterred by the prospect of entering the world's showpiece competition without Suarez for a short period. "We have been together practically eight years, we have been through a lot," he said. "We are ready for the good and the bad."
Lugano, his partner, is transformed in light blue, strong displays in qualifying and the Confederations Cup a far cry from those during a inconsistent season with West Bromwich Albion.
He took to Twitter on Thursday to issue a rallying call as the opening match kicked off.
"It's a characteristic of Uruguayan football that we rise from the ashes," he said. "In the toughest moments, we become even more united."
While Uruguay will hope Suarez comes out on top in his battle for fitness as he resumes training, there is hope beyond the man who continues to hog the headlines.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article