Uruguay coach Oscar Washington Tabarez has made two changes to La Celeste’s starting line-up for their quarter-final against Ghana on Friday.

Defender Diego Godin has not recovered from the thigh injury which forced his half-time withdrawal in Uruguay’s historic 2-1 over South Korea in the second round on Saturday.

Tabarez said: “(Godin) is not fully recovered. He is not in the team because in my opinion he is not 100% fit.”

“We still have 48 hours,” Tabarez added, when asked if Godin would be a substitute.

His replacement last Saturday, Mauricio Victorino, keeps his place in the team. And Alvaro Fernandez will replace Alvaro Pereira in the Uruguayan midfield.

Tabarez named his side early, as he has done previously in this tournament, in response to questioning at his Wednesday press conference.

Earlier in the week, Tabarez said he believed Uruguay’s success – their first quarter-finals World Cup appearance since 1970 – was down to the squad’s “experience of playing high-level football abroad.”

He said: “Most of them joined the national squad when they were still playing in Uruguay at around 22 years of age. Four years later, almost all of them are playing at important clubs overseas and they are capitalising on that experience.”