Uruguay striker Luis Suarez has said his angry reaction at not being brought on in the 1-0 Copa America loss to Venezuela was down to being frustrated by his fitness problems and his country's poor display in the competition.
Suarez, 29, was shown warming up on the sidelines in the second half on Thursday as La Celeste chased an equaliser. He wanted to come on although he was not able to as he was not listed among the available substitutes before the game due to a hamstring problem.
Television cameras later showed the former Liverpool man pounding his fist in disgust and throwing a boot onto the pitch in a fit of displeasure after a word with an assistant staff member. Around the same time, Uruguay manager Oscar Tabarez made his third and final substitution of the match.
The 1-0 defeat meant Uruguay were eliminated from the Copa America at the group stage, and Suarez says he reacted the way he did out of frustration at their performances and his failure to make an impact in the competition due to his injury.
"I want to clarify many things that have been said and are untrue," Suarez told a news conference. "I am not even at 90 percent of what I can give.
"The anger comes from the helplessness of not being able to do anything and seeing that we were being eliminated. It has nothing to do with the coach or anything with the coaching staff."
With Uruguay now out of the Copa America, Suarez is backing Argentina or Brazil to go on and win the competition.
"I think the favourites are Argentina, but Brazil are also at a high level as they showed with the 7-1 win against Haiti," Suarez said.
"We have to see how they do when playing against better rivals."