But both finished up as part of a losing Argentina side at the World Cup finals, playing under a coach who believed to the bitter end in his tactics.

"I expected a different (international) retirement," said Batistuta, confirming at 33 that he would no longer play for Argentina following their elimination in a 1-1 draw against Sweden on Wednesday.

It was a sad exit for Argentina's record goalscorer, who has bowed out with 56 goals in 78 internationals and 10 in three World Cup finals and had set his heart on winning the trophy with a team regarded as favourites before the tournament started.

"We also deserved to win against England but you don't deserve matches, you win them with goals," he said.

Argentina beat Nigeria 1-0 with Batistuta's last goal for the team in their opening match and lost 1-0 to England.

"From the first to the last minute of each match, the ball grotesquely just wouldn't go in and wouldn't go in.

"I feel very angry because we were the only team that played, but we just didn't have any luck," he said.

Batistuta said he was sad for himself and the Argentine people as it would have given them a lift, but he felt the team had nothing to regret in terms of effort.

"Being unable to pay that debt (to the people) makes you feel a bit bad, but it's not that we didn't want to but because we couldn't.

"Many people will value what we gave them in these four years and other will say we were a disaster. That's the law of football."

BIELSA'S TACTICS

Coach Marcelo Bielsa stuck to his tactical guns while being flexible in his choice of players to do the job, although he remained against the idea of playing Batistuta and Hernan Crespo in a two-pronged strike force.

This was one of several criticisms made of the Argentine coach after his team only scored two goals in three games despite the lion's share of possession and chances.

The Buenos Aires sports daily Ole said in an editorial that Bielsa was "excessively enamoured with his ideas, the tactical drawing that took him to fame and failed him in the most important moment of his life.

"For, even if it would be unjust to lose one's memory because of a defeat, however painful, he will be reproached for a long time for not keeping Gabriel Batistuta (on the pitch) until his legs could give no more."

In all three matches, Crespo came on for Batistuta during the second half.

Aimar, the face of the future for Argentina's team and their best player against Sweden, said: "To try to explain this (elimination) is in vain. All I can say is that it hurts, nothing more.

"I don't regret how Argentina played," said Aimar, 23 and a World Youth Cup winner in 1997.

"It's clear that those who play for a result have more luck in this World Cup. My age? Now is not the moment to think about whether I'll get revenge in the future because I'm young."