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Tears over Argentina Cup exit

Argentina fans at Buenos Aires' Crazy for Soccer restaurant are left speechless as their team exits the World Cup

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Football fans across Argentina have been left stunned and heartbroken after their team was unexpectedly booted out of the World Cup.

Hordes of Argentinians had stayed up all night to watch the 3.30am screening of the match against Sweden broadcast live from Japan. (Match report)

For a nation facing its worst-ever economic crisis, seeing their football heroes -- pre-tournament favourites before Wednesday's game -- exit the Cup after their 1-1 draw was just too much.

Many Argentinians burst into tears as what had seemed like the country's only hope of forgetting about the devastating recession slip away, Reuters news agency reported.

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"Argentina really, really needed at least one good thing to happen to us," said Jose, 27, sobbing quietly after watching the game with friends in the suburbs.

"But nothing goes right in Argentina anymore. We had such high expectations. And now we have only the economy to think about again. What a disaster."

Argentina coach Marcelo Bielsa, who is now widely seen to be struggling to hold onto his job, told reporters: "I feel a great sadness and disappointment. To be favourites is a presumption prior to playing. Afterwards you have to confirm that in practice -- and we did not.

"My contract finishes at the end of the month ... for now I have nothing to say. If I have to talk about it at the time I will do so," he added.

Midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron added: "I'm absolutely devastated, this is the worst moment of my life.

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"We had hoped to give the World Cup as a present to the people of Argentina. We want to apologise to the Argentine people for our failure."

Argentines have had five different presidents in the past year as well as street riots, corruption scandals and a hard-hitting currency devaluation that forced many to cancel their plans to travel to Japan to watch the World Cup.

A poll taken shortly before the football tournament showed 76 percent of Argentines had believed their team would win the event.

"Nobody had faith in anything except soccer and now we don't even have that," 58-year-old housewife Susana told Reuters.

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"I don't know why I had any hopes in the first place, but I was desperate for something to take my mind off things," said unemployed architect Juan Topic, a flag draped over his shoulders as he moped around the empty financial district in the capital, Buenos Aires.

In failing to get past the first round for the first time since 1962, Argentina had also been forced to suffer the humiliation of losing to long-time rivals England last Friday.

But most fans had still been convinced their team would get the win needed against Sweden to advance to the second round.

Doorman Ridcardo Perez told Reuters "I think the team's fall imitates our fall as a country. It makes you wonder what else that's bad can happen to Argentina."

With money scarce in the South American country after four hard years of recession that have left a quarter of Argentinians jobless and forced many to emigrate in search of work, most had stayed at home or taken beer and coffee to friends' houses to watch the match.

But many fans, trudging home bleary-eyed after the game, wished they had just stayed asleep.