Soccer: Porto's Rodriguez left out of Uruguay World Cup squad

The absence of Porto forward Cristian Rodriguez was the only surprise in Uruguay's 26-man preliminary World Cup squad announced Monday.

Among the players called up by coach Oscar Washington Tabarez were strikers Diego Forlan of Atletico Madrid, Luis Suarez of Ajax and Botafogo's Sebastian Abreu, along with defender and captain Diego Lugano of Turkish club Fenerbahce.

The list, which will be reduced to 23 men by June 1, included only four Uruguay-based players.

Rodriguez was suspended for four games after receiving a red card in the last match of the South American qualifying campaign and missed the two-legged playoff that secured Uruguay's qualification. The ban meant he would have missed the first two games in South Africa.

Suarez, top scorer with Dutch club Ajax this season, said Monday playing in a World Cup was "the maximum".

Urugauy's squad:

Goalkeepers: Fernando Muslera (Lazio), Juan Castillo (Deportivo Cali), Martin Silva (Defensor Sporting).

Defenders: Diego Lugano (Fenerbahce), Diego Godin (Villarreal), Andres Scotti (Colo Colo), Jorge Fucile (Porto), Martin Caceres (Juventus), Mauricio Victorino (Universidad de Chile), Maximiliano Pereira (Benfica).

Midfielders: Walter Gargano (Napoli), Egidio Arevalo Rios (Penarol), Sebastian Eguren (AIK Stockholm), Diego Perez (Monaco), Alvaro Pereira (Porto), Alvaro Fernandez (Universidad de Chile), Jorge Rodriguez (River Plate), Alvaro Gonzalez (Nacional), Ignacio Gonzalez (Valencia), Nicolas Lodeiro (Ajax).

Forwards: Luis Suarez (Ajax), Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid), Sebastian Abreu (Botafogo), Edinson Cavani (Palermo), Jorge Martinez (Catania) Sebastian Fernandez (Banfield).