Uruguay Boss Tabarez Praises His Side's 'Dedication' as La Celeste Knock Portugal Out of World Cup

Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez praised his side for their hard work and dedication as they managed to knock Portugal out of the World Cup and progress to the quarter-finals.

Portugal dominated much of the game but were defeated by two excellent goals from Uruguay striker Edinson Cavani, who gave an excellent performance in tandem with strike partner Luis Suarez.

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The tenacity of this Uruguay side certainly impressed their manager, which he made clear in his post-match comments (via FourFourTwo).

"The distinctive feature of the game was the dedication the players showed on the pitch, and that is the way that we see football," said Tabarez.

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"It was difficult. Portugal had more possession and were often in our half of the pitch, and it would have been better for us to have more of the ball and play the game closer to their goal. 

"But we have a very strong team in terms of our mindset and I am very happy,"

Tabarez also acknowledged his side will be facing a difficult challenge in tackling France in the next round, but insisted his squad have what it takes to go all the way in this World Cup.

"We know that France will be very tough indeed. They have two exceptional strikers, Griezmann and Mbappe - they're very fast indeed," Tabarez admitted to the press (via Sports Mole). And you can see how [Argentina] defenders struggled to keep up with Mbappe today.

"It will be very difficult for us. But we will try our best and look to impose our way of playing on them, using our strengths. We're here to play all seven matches, right up until the final, and we will see what happens."