Team GB football star Daniel Sturridge admits he has still not fully recovered from his meningitis scare.
The Chelsea striker's presence in Stuart Pearce's Great Britain squad was thrown into doubt when he contracted the virus at the beginning of last month. It was only 48 hours before GB's first game against Senegal that Sturridge was given the all-clear.
After a disappointing performance in that opening match, the 23-year-old made a much more effective contribution against United Arab Emirates on Sunday, netting with a fabulous chip to seal a 3-1 win.
It put Sturridge in line for a recall in Wednesday's decider with Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium, when GB must avoid defeat to book a quarter-final berth.
However, he admitted he is still not fully recovered, saying: "I am getting there but I am still not 100 per cent.
"Basically I am a week behind the rest of the lads in terms of fitness because they had a week of pre-season when I was at my club. Also I have lost a bit of weight but I am getting fitter."
A fully fit Sturridge would be a big advantage for GB against a Uruguay side for whom star duo Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani have so far failed to fire as anticipated.
Yet Sturridge is acutely aware how close he came to not being involved at all which, after missing out on Euro 2012, would have been a shattering disappointment.
"This was the centre-piece of my summer," he said. "It was the right stage to show what I am capable of. But I was more than a bit concerned about missing it.
"A week after contracting meningitis, I was unsure whether I would be coming or not. At that stage I certainly felt worse than I thought I would. Thankfully, as time went on I improved, although there were only a couple of days to go before we made the decision to go for it."