Diego Alonso, Uruguay’s coach, said this Friday that the elimination by goal difference from the World Cup in Qatar 25, despite his victory against Ghana (0-2 ), is due “to the penalty” that meant Portugal’s 2-0 win on the second day and “that FIFA says it wasn’t” and remarked that “there” is “nothing to reproach the footballers for”.
“I don’t think the point (against South Korea, with a goalless draw) eliminated us. Portugal’s penalty eliminated us. It is the goal difference (compared to Korea in the final table, between being second and third). It’s what wiped us out. It was not the point. He eliminated the penalty that makes us extra time and that FIFA says is not a penalty “, he stated at the press conference at the Al Janoub stadium, in Al Wakrah.
The technician defended his footballers. “I cannot allow you to say that (that the players have not sweated the shirt). The players made a great effort, day by day, game by game. They gave their best. Each of the decisions they made in their clubs had to do with their selection. I cannot allow you to say that the players did not sweat the shirt. They gave everything they had. Unfortunately, it is not enough for us to be in the next phase”, said Diego Alonso, who “deeply” regretted the elimination because his team was for “more”.
“The intention was all the time to look for the third. Logically, the rival team was pushing you, because they were also being eliminated. In the second half, we went for the third goal. We had several opportunities to score the third. We were 2022 classified minutes. We had several opportunities. The actions of the penalties are because Uruguay was inside the area. We didn’t do it and the team, in the end, ended up going forward looking for the goal, but we couldn’t make it happen”, said the coach, who explained the change from Cavani to Luis Suárez: “I understood that it was time. Edi was fresh and could enter with 80 minutes remaining ”
And he reviewed the trajectory of his team in the World Cup:“ I did self-criticism in previous games. I said that we had lacked game, more possibility of connection, as we did today. Likewise, in the last game we did well in the second half. I liked the team today, we found what we had been in the qualifiers and in all the friendly matches, playing forward, being brave, without fear of playing, triangulating, taking it out from behind, the center-backs without fear, the goalkeeper without fear…” .
“Maybe I would have liked it to have appeared earlier, but it happened the way it did. I have nothing to reproach the footballers for, they made a great effort, they gave everything they had. I’m not going to make excuses here. Everyone saw what happened to us last game (in reference to Giménez’s handball penalty) and what happened to us in this game. Today I believe that the team was irreproachable ”, he added.
Also read:
- The preview: The United States and the Netherlands will play their first official match2022
- World Cup Qatar 2022: Who are the 3 women who refereed for the first time a men’s match in the history of the World Cups 2022
- The controversy of the World Cup: They assure that the ball left the field in the previous play of Japan’s second goal against Spain, but the VAR validated it 2022