Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez admitted that it is common knowledge that European football is heads and shoulders above South America and to an extension, the rest of the world.
Tabarez saw his side humiliated by France in their quarter final clash at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium on Friday courtesy of goals in each half by Raphael Varane and Antoine Griezmann.
The 71-year old, when asked what South American football have to learn from their teams’ average showing at the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia believes there is nothing new in what panned out at the Mundial.
“It is not that we are going to learn anything new,” began Tabarez.
“You have said European football is stronger and that is football’s reality. From a financial point of view and historical point of view, you cannot compare Bolivia or Uruguay to Germany and England so it is obvious.”
Uruguay had won each of their four games in Russia before meeting their Waterloo in the French side. Tabarez who also led the Celeste to the 2010 and 2014 World Cup finals still hold on to some positives which among them is that many top quality teams have exited the tournament before them.
“When you lose, you feel it but we have to move on. There are many elite countries that left this World Cup before us so we have to be thankful and overcome the reality on ground.
“Little details changed the game. It was the first time in a long while that a team would score from set-piece against us and we had to move on to change things. Today, our opponents played better than us and that’s all.
“We cannot take the match today as a point of reference that contradicts everything we’ve done in the past twenty years,” he posited.
Like every manager which have exited the tournament, there were also question surrounding Tabarez’s future in charge of the team but he insists only the Football Association can ask him to leave.
“I don’t know any examples where the coach decides who will be the coach in the future, I still have a contract but I can’t say more than that. The association will decide that. I can’t say things to give press what to write,” he concluded.
Uruguay’s conquerors, France will battle Belgium in St Petersburg next Tuesday in one of the two all European semi-final games in the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia.
