Rocked by the Luis Suarez biting affair, Uruguay will attempt to make light of their star player's absence when they tackle Colombia in the World Cup's last 16 tomorrow.
When Uruguay's players should be focusing solely on the threat posed by James Rodriguez and his Colombia team-mates, they instead find themselves under siege in the wake of one of the biggest World Cup scandals in recent memory.
Suarez was yesterday handed a nine-match international ban and a four-month overall suspension for sinking his teeth into Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini's left shoulder during Uruguay's last group game.
It was the third time he has been found guilty of biting an opponent, after previous incidents with Ajax and Liverpool, but the heaviness of the punishment, which also saw him obliged to leave the team hotel, left all of Uruguay in shock.
The Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) immediately said they would appeal, while the country's government was moved to describe FIFA's punishment as "disproportionate".
Journalists descended upon Uruguay's training base in the northeast city of Natal yesterday and while Suarez happily flashed a thumbs-up sign to photographers, his team-mates have shown signs of exasperation.
Captain Diego Lugano snapped when asked about the incident in a press conference on Wednesday, slapping away questions on the subject by saying: "I don't know what you're talking about.
