Luis Suarez injury: Striker's mother claims meniscus injury is 'not as serious as we thought' after Suarez undergoes keyhole surgery and could return in 3 weeks time

Fears that Suarez will miss the World Cup have been downplayed by his family although they confirm he has gone under the knife just three weeks before the tournament begins

Luis Suarez played and scored for Uruguay against Japan (Getty Images)

Uruguay striker Luis Suarez had keyhole surgery on his knee on Thursday and is expected to recover in time for the World Cup.

The mother of the 27-year-old Liverpool striker told The Associated Press that Suarez had successful surgery to repair damage to his meniscus.

"The surgery is over and thank God everything went well. What Luis had wasn't as serious as we thought," Suarez's mother, Sandra Diaz, told the AP.

According to Suarez's sister, the striker is expected to be out for 2-3 weeks. Uruguay plays its first match at the World Cup against Costa Rica on June 14. The team will then face England on June 19 and Italy on June 24.

"The problem is that these days he won't be able to play, and will only be able to do physiotherapy," Giovanna Suarez said.

Suarez in World Cup fear

Suarez began feeling an uncomfortable pain during his last Premier League game and it returned during his first day of training with the Uruguayan national team on Wednesday, his sister said.

"He underwent a magnetic resonance and it came out that he had to undergo surgery. It was that quick," she said.

The surgery was carried out at the Medica Uruguaya hospital in Montevideo. Local media reported that it was an arthroscopy.

The player's mother only said it was surgery that used "a laser technique."

Suarez trained with his teammates on Wednesday morning but he was absent from the field in the afternoon. The Uruguayan football association said at the time that he had been working out at the gym.

The federation has yet to release information on Suarez's injury, surgery or his recovery time.

Suarez, who scored a league-leading 31 goals for Liverpool, was voted player of the year in England by the player's association.

AP