Luis Suarez has urged Liverpool forward Darwin Nunez to show his ‘mental strength’ after receiving a length international ban.

Nunez was handed a five-match suspension with the Uruguay national team for his part in a brawl between players and fans following their Copa America 2024 semi-final defeat to Colombia.

Uruguay players protested their innocence and claimed they were trying to defend their families when violence broke out in the stands.

Suarez, a former Liverpool striker himself, has confirmed he has talked to Nunez about the ban and revealed the advice he offered to the 25-year-old.

“I already spoke with Darwin when he was sanctioned in England. Sometimes people enjoy it more when you are on the ground and fall, but people feel more pain when you get back up,” Suarez told Uruguayan media.

“And that is what he has to do: get up and continue to show the kind of player he is. That is where you see the great players and the mental strength he has to have to show those people that they like to see him on the ground.”

Suarez, who played his final Uruguay match on Friday night without some of his close friends due to these sanctions, added: “It is not an easy moment that they must be going through, these are complicated moments. I have spoken with some of them and unfortunately, they cannot be here, for something so important for me.

“I’ve been with all of them for many years in the national team and I would have liked them to be here on Friday, but that’s football and they’ve sent me their messages, and they know that it’s a difficult time for me to make that decision.”

Nunez has had limited opportunities to impress new Liverpool head coach Arne Slot so far this season, accumulating a mere 32 minutes of action across their opening three Premier League matches.

However, given he cannot compete with Uruguay this international window, he should be fitter and fresher than some of the Reds’ other attacking options when they return to competitive action, starting on September 14 at home to Nottingham Forest.

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