Montevideo, Jan 26 (IANS): Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has called on his national teammates to take on greater responsibility as the Celeste seek to rescue their faltering 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign.

Uruguay will meet Paraguay in Asuncion on Thursday before facing Venezuela in Montevideo five days later.

The two-time world champions must win both matches to keep alive their hopes of playing in football's showpiece tournament, which will run from November 21 to December 18 in Qatar.

"We can't make any more excuses," Suarez told a virtual press conference. "I think this is a time in which we have to take responsibility.

"We have to assume that we are in this situation because of our own doing. We were the ones who have not been up to the task and the ones who have to move forward from this situation. It depends exclusively on us."

The qualifiers will be Uruguay's first outings since Diego Alonso replaced Oscar Tabarez as manager last month following a run of four straight qualifying defeats, Xinhua reports. The Celeste are currently seventh in the South American zone qualifying standings with four qualifiers remaining.

The top four teams will earn an automatic World Cup spot while the fifth-ranked side will advance to an intercontinental playoff.