Uruguay winger Alvaro Pereira believes he and his teammates were not outclassed by Holland in the World Cup semi-finals but merely beaten by the great timing of two Dutch goals.

The match in Cape Town ended 3-2 to Holland after Uruguay fought back twice but Pereira rued the fact that the opposition got lucky with the timing of goals to Wesley Sneijder and Arjen Robben in the middle of the second half.

"The main difference wasn't individual class, nor was it team spirit. The main difference was the timing of the Dutch goals," the Porto man said.

"They scored their second right in the middle of our best spell. But I'm very proud to be part of this group, because we've made history in South Africa."

Uruguay will now go in to the third-place play-off where they will meet the loser of the Spain v Germany match and Pereira said his teams work was not yet done.

"Am I satisfied? I can't tell you until after the last match. The difference between third and fourth place matters a lot," he added.