Suarez nets winner as Uruguay progress

OSCAR TABAREZ hailed the importance of match-winner Luis Suarez after the striker fired Uruguay into the knockout stages of the World Cup.

Suarez celebrated his 100th international cap with the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia at the Rostov Arena.

Uruguay struggled to assert their authority on the game but the slender victory means they join hosts Russia in the last 16, while eliminating their opponents and Group A rivals Egypt.

Suarez becomes the first Uruguayan to score in three World Cups and coach Tabarez admits he is vital to the national team.

“Of course we demand a lot more from this type of player,” Tabarez said of Suarez at his postmatch press conference.

“I saw Luis today and I can assure that I don’t give him any gifts when I praise him. I thought he played a lot better today in this match, especially because he was fighting hard, he was very fit, very physical.

“He always shows his character and with an enormous sense of responsibility.

“He takes on the pressure and he lives with pressure all the time and that’s a very distinctive feature of Luis.

“We must recognise that he’s a crucial player to our national team because he shows solidarity on the pitch, he has a sense of responsibility and he has that enormous capacity to score goals.”

Iceland winger Johann Berg Gudmundsson’s World Cup adventure is in doubt after it was confirmed he has torn a calf muscle. The 27-year-old Burnley star was injured in the 1-1 draw with Argentina.