The hopes of Uruguay took a collective inhale of baited breath on Sunday when Luis Suarez had to limp off the pitch while Barcelona took on Sevilla.

While trying to settle an incoming ball just ten minutes to the second-half Suarez seemed to hyper-extend his leg, and though initially he tried to continue playing, it soon became apparent to Suarez and his teammates that he couldn’t go on.

Barcelona have been rather quiet on the matter, first with Luis Enrique calling it a knock, and now with their medical staff saying,

“Tests on Monday morning have confirmed that [Suarez] has suffered an injury to the semimembranosus muscle in his right leg,” announced Barcelona’s staff and that the striker will join up with Uruguay’s national team to fulfill the “second phase of his recovery” on June 1.

While it certainly leaves the impression that there is hope to see both Suarez and Edison Cavani work their magic in the Copa America, the harsh reality is that playing at less than 100% is dangerous for anybody, and even if he is healthy enough to play his training will have been so limited that fitness will be a looming question as well.

No nice way to say this, but if Suarez can’t play, Uruguay are already in dire straits. And the tournament hasn’t even started yet.