Uruguay: We'll be a match for everyone, Tabarez

Oscar Tabarez expects his Uruguay side to be tough opponents for whoever they may meet in the next round of the World Cup after sealing their passage with a 1-0 victory over Mexico.

The win in Rustenburg which was down to a 43rd-minute Luis Suarez strike helped La Celeste finish top of Group A.

Despite the loss, the Mexicans still ended in second place after South Africa were unable to alter the goal difference sufficiently in their 2-1 win over France in the other game.

The reward for topping the pool will in all likeliness be avoiding a South American derby against Argentina.

And after a disappointing campaign the last time they reached the finals in Japan and South Korea eight years ago, the coach, was just pleased to have taken them beyond the group stage.

He said: "Of course we've analysed all the possibilities for us.

"I think so far in this phase we've showed that we are a tough team to tackle for the others.

"We are trying to do what we had exactly in mind before the tournament.

"Now I don't think we've achieved that yet, but Uruguay is now a difficult opponent for anybody.

"This is what we have seen so far and if you look at the history of Uruguay in the last few World Cups, this win is really satisfying and the news from Montevideo is very good."

There were plenty of concerns before the game suggesting the two sides could play out a draw that would have put both through, but the Uruguay boss insisted that his side never intended something so negative.

He continued: "Let me just say that everybody showed good sporting spirit.

"I think both teams played to win and perhaps in the minds of some people it was not necessary to win.

"It was a very tough match, so we are really happy and this satisfaction."

Mexico boss Javier Aguirre felt his side lacked energy, but vowed to bounce back stronger in the next round.

He said: "I guess the attitude (was missing). We really did not want to win the match. I guess what we were missing was the energy.

"We conceded the goal and then we tried to recover, but we couldn't and then towards the end we lost our spirit.

"We're now in the round of 16. We'll try to recover and do our best to go far in this competition."

Aguirre also echoed the sentiments of Tabarez regarding negative comments about a draw in the build-up.

He added: "I think Uruguay started the match well and I think FIFA can be rest assured that we were both striving to win. We were not playing for a draw, we certainly went for a win.

"We were loyal to our style and the only difference was one goal."