[attach id=260846 size="medium"]Spain’s Andres Iniesta falls after a tackle against Uruguay.[/attach]

Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque criticised his players for not scoring more goals during a sublime first half against Uruguay and said that profligacy caused some heart flutters at the end of their 2-1 Confederations Cup victory on Sunday.

“We dominated at all times with the exception of when we struggled and let in a goal,” Del Bosque said.

“At the end of the 90 minutes we were happy to hear the final whistle.

“We should have scored more and maybe we were tired and also as a result of winning 2-0, that affects the players, they start to slow down and that is why we suffered at the end.”

Spain completely outclassed Uruguay in a first half , during which they held 78 per cent of the possession, with Pedro and Roberto Soldado scoring goals while Cesc Fabregas also hit the post and the world champions created numerous other chances, principally from the work by man-of-the-match Andres Iniesta.

Uruguay came back into the game in the second period but they rarely threatened Iker Casillas and Luis Suarez’s goal in the 88th minute put a misleading complexion on the final result.

“We did almost everything well, we defended well, we recovered the ball well and we didn’t leave them many options to create,” Del Bosque said.

His Uruguayan counterpart Oscar Tabarez did not disagree with that assessment and looked resigned at the press conference, stating that Spain were superior at all times.

“They were well worth their victory. They imposed themselves on us, especially during the first half and we didn’t have the order to regain possession when necessary,” Tabarez said.

Uruguay now face Nigeria in Salvador on Thursday. Tabarez said his team’s tournament future will now depend on securing a result against the Africans.

“Our luck depends on the most important game, which is the next one and if we do that we can get into the final four,” he said.

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