Ayala says sorry to fans

Roberto Ayala has apologised to Argentinian supporters following the team's exit.

Roberto Ayala has apologised to Argentinian supporters following the team's quarter final exit at the World Cup.

Argentina crashed out of the competition in Berlin on Friday after losing to hosts Germany in a penalty shoot-out.

Veteran defender Ayala, who produced a solid display and scored in the 1-1 draw, missed one of the spot kicks as Argentina failed to fulfil their pre-tournament objective.

The centre half admits the target was to reach at least the semi-finals and he has offered his apology to his compatriots.

"I'm sorry for having disillusioned the Argentinian people," said Ayala.

"Also for not having reached our goal of being among the top four teams in the tournament.

"I'm sorry for leaving Germany empty-handed when we believed we could have won the game in 90 minutes."

The 33-year-old is just one game away from equalling Diego Simeone's appearance record for Argentina, but the Valencia stopper was non-committal on whether he would collect a 106th cap.

He added: "We never know. I haven't retired from the national team, despite this elimination really hurting me.

"I would have preferred not to play so many games but to win more."

Reflecting on his miss in the shoot-out, Ayala is angry that his effort from 12 yards was stopped by Germany keeper Jens Lehmann.

"I had already decided to shoot in that direction," he continued.

"I feel a huge anger inside. There's no consolation from scoring the goal during the match because the last thing remains on the mind."