LIMA, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Peru's record goalscorer Paolo Guerrero has returned to the national squad for the Copa America in Brazil after a doping ban, head coach Ricardo Gareca said on Thursday.
The 35-year-old has not played for his country since last year's World Cup in Russia, when world football governing body FIFA temporarily lifted a 14-month suspension pending an appeal.
"Paolo is going to be very focused despite the difficult period that he has gone through," Gareca told a news conference.
Guerrero, Peru's all-time leading scorer with 36 goals in 91 games, was banned for a year by FIFA after testing positive for cocaine metabolite benzoylecgonine after a World Cup qualifier in October 2017.
The suspension was halved after an appeal but the Court of Arbitration for Sport extended it to 14 months at the behest of the World Anti-Doping Agency, which successfully argued that the sentence had been too lenient.
Guerrero firmly maintains his innocence, saying he unwittingly consumed the substance in a herbal tea.
Peru will begin their Copa America campaign against Venezuela on June 15 before facing Bolivia and hosts Brazil in the Group A.
