Maracaibo, Vemezuela, July 11: Brazil coach Dunga praised his team's courage in the faceof adversity after they beat Uruguay on penalties following a 2-2 drawin their Copa America semi-final.

Brazil were on the point of going out when Fernando's shootoutmiss left Uruguay's Pablo Garcia needing to score to win the match.

Instead, Garcia hit the post and Brazil won the shootout 5-4.

During the match itself, Brazil twice led but Uruguay fought back each time.

While Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez and his players left without commenting, Dunga spoke of the importance of suffering.

''To be a winning team, you have to know how to suffer,'' saidDunga, whose own career saw him bounce back from failure at the 1990World Cup to captain the team to victory four years later.

''In the most difficult moment, you have to have posture, courage and fight until the end.

''I want to thank the players because they left their families behind to come here and play in a very difficult competition.

''We have been together for nearly one month and their behaviourhas been exemplary throughtout. They have shown great dedication,effort and love for the shirt of Brazil. All this has been after a longand tiring season in Europe.'' Dunga denied his comments were an asideat Ronaldinho and Kaka, who both asked not to be picked for thecompetition because they said they were tired.

''There's nothing malignant in this,'' he said. ''If they don'twant to come, I can't do anything. This is a way of thanking theplayers who are here.'' On the penalties, he said: ''I wasn't certainwe would win but I had great conviction that we would.

''Penalties are not just about the moment, it's a result of thepreparation and work beforehand.'' Mexico face Argentina in the secondsemi-final today.

Reuters
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