Atletico Madrid centre-back Diego Godin says he has recovered already from an ankle ligament strain picked up last week against Bayern Munich and is ready to play in Uruguay's World Cup 2018 qualifiers this week against Venezuela and Colombia.
After last Wednesday's 1-0 Champions League win at home to Bayern, Atletico said that key defender Godin had sprained his left ankle, and he seemed set for a few weeks at least on the sidelines.
However the 30-year-old was back training with his teammates within 48 hours, and made the trip for Sunday's La Liga 2-0 win at Valencia, even though in the end he was not deemed fit enough to take part in the game.
"I tried to play, but [Diego] Simeone made the decision that I shouldn't be there. There were teammates who were more fit than I was," he told Ovacion newspaper upon his arrival in Montevideo.
Godin has nonetheless travelled to South America ahead of the qualifiers at home to Venezuela on Thursday and away in Colombia next Tuesday, and he told reporters that he felt ready to feature for his country if the medical staff and manager Oscar Washington Tabarez said so.
"I want to play. I just had a little ankle sprain," Godin said. "I didn't play at the weekend as a measure of precaution. Now we will evaluate the situation and we will go over it with the doctor and the coaching staff.
#Eliminatorias | [VIDEO] Conferencia de Tabárez y primera práctica de @Uruguay previa a enfrentar a @SeleVinotinto: https://t.co/PYNNHs9OxD pic.twitter.com/3IJ0N0sZn4
- Selección Uruguaya (@Uruguay) October 4, 2016
"But I want to be here. If I'm fit then the manager can pick me or not, but my intention is to be here, and that is what counts."
Uruguay go into the latest round of qualifiers sitting top of the South American table with 16 points from eight games, and Godin said that three more at home to Venezuela would put them in an excellent position to qualify.
"These are two fundamental games, above all the home match against Venezuela, in which we must be focused, and go out to win," he said.
"Getting these three points, we would be in a much better position to finish the first round of games."