Suspended Cristian Rodriguez left out of Uruguay squad

Porto midfielder Cristian Rodriguez was left out of a provisional 26-man Uruguay World Cup squad announced by coach Oscar Washington Tabarez yesterday.

Rodriguez would have missed the opening two matches at the finals in South Africa after he received a four-game suspension for fighting at the end of Uruguay's 1-0 defeat by Argentina in their qualifier in Montevideo in October.

Tabarez had hinted recently that the midfielder's chances of going to the finals were slim given the suspension.

There were no surprises in a squad in which Tabarez stuck largely to tested veterans of the qualifying campaign, though midfielder Egidio Arevalo Rios was a surprise recall after he had been in fine form for Clausura champions Penarol.

Rios earned four caps between 2006 and 2007 in the early matches of Tabarez's tenure.

The squad will be cut to 23 by June 1 for the June 11-July 11 finals in South Africa.

Uruguay are in Group A with South Africa, France, and Mexico.    (Reporting by Conrado Hornos, writing by Rex Gowar in Buenos Aires; editing by Greg Stutchbury; to query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)