Fernando Santos Congratulates Uruguay as La Celeste Knock Portugal Out of the World Cup

Portugal manager Fernando Santos admitted he was 'very sad' to see his side knocked out of the World Cup but congratulated opponents Uruguay for their performance in the round of 16 tie.

Santos' side dominated the match for large portions but were defeated by two excellent goals from Uruguay talisman Edinson Cavani either side of Pepe's equaliser.

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Though the defeat represents a dark night for Portugal, Santos graciously accepted the defeat in his post-match comments (via Sports Mole).

"First of all, congratulations to Uruguay," said Santos after the match. "It's very sad for Portugal, though. We know that the squares have been full back home and that the people there were really rooting for us.

"We could feel their presence with us and there's a real sadness in the dressing room that we weren't able to make it through for them. In football, there are no moral victories and I would have preferred to play worse and win the match.

"But I do feel that the second half was very good from us in terms of desire and our determination to score. We tried our best and we played a good game, I think. But you always want to win, and we lost, so well done to Uruguay for making it through."

This defeat will come as a major disappointment to Portugal, who would have hoped for a better finish in the World Cup having entered the tournaments as reigning champions of Europe.

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However, they never really got going in the competition and were almost eliminated in the group stages after drawing with Spain and Iran.