Suarez: Hodgson inspired me to knock England out of World Cup

Football superstar Luis Suarez has exclusively revealed to ShortList that it was England manager Roy Hodgson that inspired him to score the goals that knocked England out of this summer's World Cup.

He scored both goals in Uruguay's 2-1 win in Sao Paolo in June despite being half-fit; it now seems that his wonder performance was provoked by Hodgson's ill-judged comments before the game.

In an interview in this week's issue, he said, "their coach [Roy Hodgson] did not want to acknowledge that I was a top player, so I did feel like I had something to prove. I was not even close to being fully fit when I played against England, but I was still able to answer the critics".

Suarez also revealed that he "dreamed about scoring the goals that beat England in the World Cup"; that dream came true, continuing England's recent miserable tournament record.

The comments will not help Hodgson, who is currently facing accusations that he should not have gone public with Raheem Sterling's request not to start Sunday's European Championship qualifier against Estonia after complaining of tiredness. Fans have said that he has 'hung [Sterling] out to dry'. It seems he may have to pick his words more carefully in future.

The full interview with Suarez, where he discusses his summer move to Barcelona, Lionel Messi and missing Liverpool, will be available to read in this week's issue, out on Thursday.