Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez insisted his side did not deserve to be on the losing side as they finished fourth at the World Cup with a 3-2 loss to Germany on Saturday night.

GettyImagesDiego Forlan scores his goal to make it 2-1 to Uruguay

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Uruguay went behind to an early goal from Thomas Muller but responded superbly, with Edinson Cavani and Diego Forlan both on target in Port Elizabeth. Germany could not be suppressed though, and ended an impressive campaign with goals from Marcell Jansen and Sami Khedira to finish third.

Uruguay enjoyed a fantastic tournament - their progress only halted by Netherlands in the semi-finals - and Tabarez praised his players for the way they challenged a Germany side that beat England 4-1 and Argentina 4-0.

"We achieved an equal game against a real power," Tabarez told La Observa. "We could have won because in the game [they] were not superior to us.

"We're not that far away [from Germany's level], the route has been marked. We must learn from this.

"Uruguay have been one of the surprises of the tournament and we still don't realise what's happened back home.

"I received an email on Friday from a lady I didn't know who said, 'Thank you, thank you, thank you for having changed the image of our country'. I'm surprised, it's the beauty of sport and the serious work we've accomplished."

Following Khedira's header Forlan had a chance to equalise with the last kick of the game but his free kick hit the bar. The Atletico Madrid striker was not too downbeat and said his side had still achieved something great.

"Obviously it's something spectacular to be among the top four," Forlan said. "If someone would've asked us at the beginning, we would've liked it. It's something positive."