Montevideo (Uruguay), Jul 1 (IANS): Uruguay captain Diego Godin has said his team showed a good level of defence in the Copa America tournament where they were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

"We didn't change our way of playing. We kept our identity, with fight and heart and a great defensive power and tactical," Xinhua news agency quoted Godin as saying during an interview on Tuesday with local daily El Pais.

"We lacked the other part, of damaging our opponent and working with the situations we had. This was our duty," added the central defender for Atletico Madrid.

Despite this, the player said the national team, who won the Copa America tournament back in Argentina 2011, left a "good impression" in the tournament organized by Chile.

The hosts knocked Godin's team out of the contest after defeating Uruguay 1-0 in the quarter-finals.

"Even though we seemed to go into the tournament with a low profile and with a lot of humility, we are not going to lie ... deep inside we wanted to reach the final and win it," Godin told the Montevideo newspaper.

"Uruguayans are competitive and we always want to win even though we try to hide it, it is impossible," added the 29-year-old player.