MOSCOW — Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez refused to get carried away following his side’s 1-0 win against Saudi Arabia which means they have qualified for the last 16 of the World Cup with a game still to play in the group stage of the 2018 World Cup.

Luis Suarez’s 23rd minute goal means Uruguay have now qualified for the last 16 in three consecutive World Cup finals.

"You need results now and then to show you are on the right track, people say we have done things we haven’t done before, but we are more worried about what we have to do in terms of work and planning," said Tabarez, who was delighted to have qualified for the last 16 before they face hosts, Russia.

 "We can now play against Russia with both sides qualified for the next round, it will be in front of their fans and a party in the stadium and a chance for us to work on things before the knockout round," commented the veteran coach, who added his side were "in good shape and this serves for what will come afterwards."

Tabarez said he was disappointed with his side’s first half display and their inability to kill off a rival who worked hard but failed to create clear chances. "

We controlled the things more at the end of the game, but a ball into your area is always dangerous," he said.

Saudi Arabia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi, whose side are now out of the tournament, admitted that his side had not been good enough to take anything from an experienced rival.

"We had a lot of the ball and moved it well and we are able to do what we aimed to do, but we conceded a goal in a moment of misfortune and then we didn’t have the tools to equalise, even though we didn’t really suffer in defense."

"We couldn’t create situations which allowed us to draw level," said Pizzi, who was nevertheless content his players had improved their opening day performance against Russia.

"I want the Saudi people to feel proud of the effort we give in every match and I think today we did that. Sadly, we have no chance of qualifying, but we will make the effort in the final game that our pride in Saudi Arabia deserves," he promised. — XINHUA