Peru hero Guerrero ready despite drug ban

Peru boss Ricardo Gareca has declared captain Paolo Guerrero ready for the World Cup following the temporary lifting of his drugs ban.

The South Americans play their first match at the finals since 1982 when they face Denmark in Group C today. And Guerrero, their record scorer, is clear to feature.

He was granted a temporary lifting of his suspension on 31 May by the Swiss Federal Court, to which he had appealed after the ban was upped from six to 14 months.

Gareca said: “Paolo I think is very, very fit. Whatever happened before, now he is training at a very high level and he really is ready to play.”

Gareca would not confirm whether the 34-year-old would start in Saransk, saying: “I always wait until the last second to decide who’s going to be in my team.”

Guerrero tested positive for cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine in October. He claimed he had drunk contaminated tea.

The captains of Denmark and France and Australia, Peru’s other Group C rivals, backed Guerrero in an open letter to Fifa. Danish skipper Simon Kjaer said of Guerrero at his side’s pre-match press conference: “We just wanted to support him.”

Denmark boss Age Hareide said: “Peru-denmark is an allimportant match.”