Montevideo, Nov 5 (IANS): Uruguay's national football coach Oscar Tabarez has announced the 24 players for the upcoming matches against Ecuador and Chile for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Excluded from the starting list were winger Cristian Rodriguez (Independiente, Argentina) due to a recurring injury and forward Jonathan Rodriguez (Deportivo La Coruna, Spain). Goalkeeper Rodrigo Munoz (Libertad, Paraguay) was also missing from the list along with defender Emiliano Velazquez (Getafe, Spain), reports Xinhua.

To fill these positions, Tabarez has called upon goalkeeper Martin Campana (Defensor Sporting, Uruguay), midfielders Nahitan Nandez (Penarol, Uruguay) and Brian Lozano (Defensor Sporting) and striker Michael Santos (River Plate, Argentina).

Also featured in the team sheet are key players such as goalkeeper Fernando Muslera (Galatasaray, Turkey), defender and captain Diego Godin (Atletico Madrid, Spain) and midfielder Egidio Arevalo Rios (Tigres, Mexico).

Striker Edinson Cavani (Paris Saint-Germain, France) will return to the team after serving a two-match ban for trying to hit Gonzalo Jara during a quarterfinal earlier this year in Copa America when the Chilean player allegedly touched Cavani's bottom to provoke a reaction.

Uruguay will visit Ecuador on November 12.

The team, led by Tabarez, is leading the South American qualifying tournament with full points after defeating Bolivia 2-0 in La Paz and Colombia 3-0 here.