Luis Suarez Closes in on Scoring Record with Uruguay Victory over France

Luis Suarez has been in the headlines nonstop over the past couple of months for reasons that are not always positive, but Wednesday night saw him back to doing what he does best—scoring goals and winning games.

Uruguay are preparing for the FIFA Confederations Cup tournament that begins on June 15. They took on France in a warm-up match and won 1-0 thanks to a second-half goal from Suarez.

After not playing a competitive match since being suspended for biting Branislav Ivanovic in late April, Suarez was left on the bench for the first half of the international friendly, with Diego Forlan and Edinson Cavani paired in attack. A low-key and uneventful first 45 minutes failed to yield a goal, and Suarez was introduced at the break in place of Forlan.

It took just five minutes for the Liverpool forward to find the back of the net. He showed good movement and strength to find his way past Eliaquim Mangala and produced a fine finish with the outside of his boot to beat the goalkeeper.

That proved to be the only goal of the game, and it was Suarez's 32nd goal for his country in 64 caps, giving him a perfect one-in-two record to date—and also placing him within reach of his country's all-time goalscoring record.

The current holder, of course, is Diego Forlan. Forlan has 33 in close to a century of caps, well ahead of Suarez's 64 appearances. The former Atletico Madrid striker is now 34 years old and is unlikely to add many more goals to that tally, although the Confederations Cup will give him another target to hit.

Suarez scored 30 goals in all competitions for Liverpool this season and goes into the Confederations Cup in great form, though perhaps not in a great state of mind.

As reported by Andy Hunter of the Guardian, his recent comments have led many to believe he wants a move away from his club this summer, but with his involvement in the summer tournament pending, it is likely that no news will break about any move or otherwise until after the final at the end of June.

Suarez's career might be about to take a new turn this summer, and things haven't exactly gone well over the past month, but breaking his country's goalscoring record would be a good way to get himself back on the right track once more.