No mention of Suarez by Colombia’s Pekerman

Colombia’s head coach Jose Pekerman gives directions to his players during the group C World Cup soccer match between Colombia and Ivory Coast at the Estadio Nacional in Brasilia, Brazil, Thursday, June 19, 2014. AP

RIO DE JANEIRO  — Colombia coach Jose Pekerman avoided questions about Luis Suarez, ducked any assessment of the striker’s punishment and didn’t mention his name ahead of Saturday’s World Cup second-round match against Uruguay.

Pekerman, an Argentine who coached Argentina at the 2006 World Cup, repeated several times on Friday that Uruguay is a “top-notch opponent” — steering the focus away from Suarez and the Uruguayan forward’s lengthy ban from football.

“Listen, at this time this is a very delicate issue,” Pekerman responded when asked about Suarez. “But our concern is Uruguay as a team and we are working in order to play against them tomorrow. That’s all there is to say.”

Suarez was banned on Thursday from all football activities for four months, suspended from Uruguay’s next nine internationals and fined for biting Giorgio Chiellini in a 1-0 victory over Italy which sealed the South Americans’ place in the last 16.

Essentially, Pekerman said his team has had its own problems.

It is missing four injured players — led by striker Radamel Falcao — who should have been in the 23-man World Cup squad. The other three are midfielders Aldo Ramirez, Edwin Valencia and defender Amaranto Perea.

“Uruguay is a very experienced team with a lot of ability and a wonderful coach,” Pekerman said. “It was going to be a difficult opponent in any case. Really, I am very busy with Colombia dealing with all the problems we have had with injuries.”

Colombia is suddenly among the favorites at the tournament, and officials back home are imposing bans on alcohol and curfews for minors in many major cities to discourage chaos and vandalism spinning off from the match.

A key player is forward James (pronounced HA-maze) Rodriguez, who has three goals and two assists and was among the top players in the first half of the tournament.

“This makes us happy and motivates us,” said goalkeeper David Ospina, whose sister Daniela is married to Rodriguez. “But this also has to do with the fact we all play as a team.”

And they don’t talk about Luis Suarez.

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