Sebastian Coates admits the Celeste felt his Liverpool team-mate’s absence in the 2-0 defeat to Colombia in their World Cup last-16 fixture at the Maracana on Saturday

By Greg Stobart at the Estadio Maracana

Uruguay struggled without Luis Suarez in the 2-0 defeat to Colombia in their last-16 World Cup clash, admitted Sebastian Coates.

Suarez missed Saturday’s match at the Maracana after he was banned from all football for four months for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in Uruguay’s final group game.

Coates, who is Suarez’s team-mate at Liverpool, conceded after the game that the South Americans missed their star striker.

“Luis is a great player and we missed him,” Coates said. “But we have a lot of players without Luis who gave everything for the team.

Asked whether he thought Suarez would stay at Liverpool this summer, Coates responded: “Yes, I hope so.”

Colombia won thanks to two strikes from James Rodriguez as the midfielder became the leading scorer in the tournament with five goals.

Rodriguez’s first goal was a stunning volley from 25 yards in the first-half, but Coates does not believe the Monaco man has been the best player of the World Cup so far.

Coates said: “I don’t think he is the player of the tournament but he scored a great goal today, he scored two goals. So he’s a great player in a great moment.

“It was a great goal but we never gave up, which was very important for us.”

In the absence of their star striker Uruguay crashed out of the World Cup to a James Rodriguez-inspired Colombia, but their coach insists the row did not drain them

By Liam Twomey at Estadio Maracana

Oscar Tabarez insists his Uruguay players were not affected by the Luis Suarez biting controversy after they crashed out of the World Cup to Colombia.

The Uruguay FA are in the process of appealing the four-month global ban and nine-game international suspension handed down to Suarez by Fifa for biting Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini.

The Liverpool star’s absence overshadowed preparations for Saturday’s round of 16 clash at the Maracana but in the event it was James Rodriguez, Colombia’s talisman, who stole the show with two goals.

Uruguay lacked attacking drive and inspiration throughout the match, but while Tabarez admitted his team missed their star striker, he remained adamant that the controversy had not left them drained of energy.

“When we discussed things before the match we all knew what happened, but we had to stop thinking about it and only bring out the positive things,” he told reporters.

“That generated a lot of strength to come out of this match with a good result. Suarez is a very important player but we knew he was not going to play or be close to us because it was so decided by the punishment imposed on him.

“I don’t know what energy we could have lost. We simply accepted that he was suspended, and we criticised the excessive harshness of the sanction – very subjective, it’s true, but it’s the feeling of an entire people.

“Football needs players of the quality of Luis Suarez. We know him as a human being and we tried to defend him. When he no longer was able to be with us, that was the end of that. We had the energy and we showed that.

“I don’t want to talk about this anymore in front of people who have been after him for a long time.”

The midfielder scored both goals as Jose Pekerman’s side booked a quarter-final clash against Brazil with a 2-0 win over Uruguay at the Maracana on Saturday

By Greg Stobart at the Estadio Maracana

This was billed as the clash between two teams missing their star players on a stage made for special talents.

Yet James Rodriguez made sure that this last-16 clash still showcased one of the world’s best and it is hard to conceive that Luis Suarez or Radamel Falcao could possibly have made a greater impact.

James is so baby-faced that he looks like he should still be at school, but the 22-year-old was the man among the boys as he sunk Uruguay to book Colombia’s place in the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in their history.

He has been arguably the man of the tournament so far and his double here means he tops the scoring charts with five goals while he also has two assists to his name.

Brazil are in his sights now. And he has given the hosts something to fear ahead of their last-eight clash in Fortaleza on Friday.

The first goal was special, the best of the World Cup so far.

He had no right to score, particularly in the context of 28 minutes of dour, attritional football up to that point.

But James controlled Juan Cuadrado’s headed pass with his chest, swivelled like a ballet dancer and struck a perfect left-footed volley in off the crossbar from 25 yards.

It was jaw-dropping. If the atmosphere was not loud enough already – Colombia fans vastly outnumbered those from Uruguay – the noise level was deafening as he jigged by the corner flag with his team-mates.

Five minutes after the restart, Rodriguez was on hand with a poacher’s finish from close range, again after an intelligent contribution from Cuadrado when he headed across goal.

All the talk in the build up to the match focused on the four-month ban given to Suarez but the Uruguay striker’s standing as a national hero has clearly not been affected by his bite on Giorgio Chiellini.

Celeste supporters chanted Suarez’s name and wore masks representing his face, clearly feeling that Uruguay had been the victims of an injustice over the severity of the suspension.

If Suarez had been here, he might have given Colombia some attacking thrust and caused them problems.

Instead, Uruguay were listless going forward and Suarez had to watch from his living room in Montevideo as James stole the show.

He has been so good that the absence through injury of Falcao, one of the best strikers on the planet, has barely been noticed.

James can become a Colombia legend over the next decade. He is already their all-time leading scorer in the World Cup and has netted seven times in his last six international fixtures.

And with all eyes on the World Cup, there will be plenty of discussions in European boardrooms about how to get him out of Monaco.

Rodriguez has shown in this tournament that he has the talent and the mental strength to play for one of Europe’s big guns, that he could fit in any side whether it’s Real Madrid, Bayern Munich or Manchester United.

At 22, he has taken on the pressure of spearheading a nation whose previous best World Cup performance was a last-16 defeat to Cameroon in 1990.

His name was cheered loudest of all before kick-off and he received a standing ovation from all sides of this famous stadium when he was substituted five minutes from time.

If he carries on this form, Brazil will be next. And then, who knows? Perhaps Colombia and James could even find themselves back at the Maracana for the final on July 13.