Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez rubbished claims Edinson Cavani s form is affected by ongoing doubt about his club future.
Cavani has been touted to depart Napoli for richer pastures, with the likes of Paris Saint-Germain, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea all four being cash cows interested in signing the powerful forward.
But ahead of their Confederations Cup semi-final with Brazil in Belo Horizonte on Wednesday, the 66-year-old said Cavani was focused on the job at hand.
This is about the private life of a professional footballer. There is no lack of concentration from Cavani, Tabarez said.
The domestic off-season rumours have come years after Tabarez claims he predicted Cavani would be set for greater things in club football.
(Napoli president Aurelio) De Laurentiis got mad at me two years ago when I said it was a matter of time before Cavani would prove to be one of the world s best players now he is top goalscorer in Italy, he said.
Tabarez added Cavani was part of one of the most lethal attacks at the tournament, with the Uruguayans scoring the second most number of goals in Brazil behind World Cup champions Spain.
Everybody is worried about Brazil and their attack, but they have not yet faced a team with an attack as powerful as ours, Tabarez said.
But we believe in what we ve been working at for the past seven years and we hope this match will be remembered as one of the greats.
Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari also heaped praise on the Uruguay marksman, along with Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez.
Cavani has been the top striker in Italy for the last few seasons, Forlan was the best player in the 2010 World Cup and Suarez is one of the best players in the English league, Scolari said.
That alone shows how careful you have to be with them. They are top quality players, our team knows that.
