Cordoba: Argentina's run in the Copa America came to a crashing end when Uruguay knocked out the pre-tournament favourites 5-4 on penalties after the game finished 1-1 in regulation.
A Carlos Tevez miss in the shoot-out proved costly as Martin Caceres fired home the winning kick to knock out the hosts. Despite the quarter-final elimination, coach Sergio Batista dismissed the notion that his team's departure from the tournament as a failure.
"I wouldn't call it a failure," Batista said in the post-match press conference.
"We had the same objective, to win the tournament. We worked to win it. We just have to continue working to get to the most important thing, and that is the World Cup."
With the pressure rising after failing to make it to the semi-finals, Batista seems focused on one thing.
"We have to continue working to get better," he reiterated.
Batista also gave his opinion on Javier Mascherano's red card. The Barcelona midfielder was sent off late with his second yellow card to even the teams out at 10 players each after Diego Perez was dismissed in the first half. Argentina, however, failed to take advantage of having an extra man for 40 minutes.
"It wasn't worth a red card," Batista said of his captain's expulsion. Finally, the coach was asked how he felt about Lionel Messi's performance.
"Lionel had a very good game. I always like how he plays. "In the second half, he was down as was the entire team."
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