RIO DE JANEIRO, May 4 (Xinhua) -- Peru captain Paolo Guerrero has told of his frustration at playing in last year's World Cup with only 10 days of preparation, saying he was far below his best for the football's showpiece tournament.

Guerrero was only cleared to play at the World Cup two weeks before it began when a Swiss court agreed to temporarily lift a 14-month doping ban while it considered an appeal.

The former Bayern Munich striker scored once in three group matches in Russia as Peru, playing in their first World Cup since 1982, were eliminated in the group stage.

"The dream of my country was to qualify for the World Cup. And I had this punishment that was very unfair," Guerrero said in an interview with Brazil's TV Globo.

"They took me out of the World Cup. Because as far as I'm concerned, I didn't play in the World Cup. I didn't play because I had just 10 days of preparation. I was training alone in a park. European players went into the tournament with 70 games under their belt for the season. I played three."

The all-time leading scorer of Peru 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, 35, firmly maintains his innocence, saying he unwittingly consumed the substance in a herbal tea.

When asked if he made the most of his chance to play in the World Cup, Guerrero replied: "To be honest, no. Everyone needs to know that, including those in my country."

"But I needed to be there with my teammates because they see me as an example and their captain. I had to be on their side to support them in every way," he added.

"My presence was worthwhile because I was able to help them. But did I make the most of it as a player? How could I?

"Before joining the national team I trained in Switzerland alone. I had meetings with FIFA's president [Gianni Infantino], with my lawyers. I had to get my life in order to play football," he said.

Guerrero, who now plays his club football for Brazil's Internacional, has scored four goals in six matches since returning from his ban last month. Enditem

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