"It is over, the chapter is closed," said Pekerman, who opted to leave out of the squad several experienced campaigners such as Inter Milan's Javier Zanetti.

"The players have always done what was necessary to attain their objective, to the last penalty," the 56-year-old added.

"It's a defeat which hurts badly," said veteran striker Hernan Crespo.

"At no time were Germany better than us -- and that makes it harder to take. We don't deserve to be going home so early."

Skipper Juan Pablo Sorin said: "I think the Germans got lucky with it going to penalties, which is a lottery. It was very frustrating as we gave it all we had. We matched Germany, in Germany, for 120 minutes and you can't ask for much more than that."

For scorer Roberto Ayala, whose 49th-minute header looked to have secured a win until ten minutes from the end when Miroslav Klose levelled, "it was a black day for Argentina."

Ayala was desolate after German keeper Jens Lehmann saved his spotkick.

"It will take a lot of time for the hurt to go," the 33-year-old Valencia star told reporters after he failed to book a semi-final date which would have taken him level with Diego Simeone's record 106 caps for Argentina.

Midfielder Esteban Cambiasso was in tears after his spot kick was saved by Lehmann.

"How can it end like this? It's a terrible way to go out," stammered the Inter Milan star, who has had a terrible past few months struggling with a personal problem.

Striker Carlos Tevez concurred.

"It's a defeat which really hurts badly, especially as we gave all we could out there. But that's football, especially when it comes down to spotkicks," said the Corinthians attacker.

The players were circumspect on the fisticuffs at the end which saw German team manager Oliver Bierhoff charge that German defender Per Mertesacker was kicked after the shootout, apparently by Argentinian defender Leandro Cufre before another Argentinian defender Gabriel Heinze joined the fray.

Crespo was the most forthcoming, while remaining diplomatic.

"We basically didn't appreciate the way they (the Germans) were jumping up and down during the penalties. I don't want to make too much of it but there was a lot of tension," said the Chelsea forward, whose future clubmate Michael Ballack insisted that he had not seen what had provoked the storm.

Cambiasso and Maxi Rodriguez also played down the incident, which FIFA is investigating.

"It's logical there was some frustration which spilled over at the end, but I'm not here to say who was at fault," said Cambiasso, while Rodriguez insisted: "It was nothing really -- it's not worth saying much about it."

Pekerman also played down the scenes.

"I think it was a spontaneous situation arising from a very emotional moment," he explained.

Argentine football fans swallowed their disappointment at their World Cup exit on penalties

See page 18 Col 5Argentina lamented their poor luck on Friday after losing their World Cup quarterfinal to Germany on penalties, a loss which saw coach Jose Pekerman resign amid mutual ill-feeling which boiled over at the end.

"It is over, the chapter is closed," said Pekerman, who opted to leave out of the squad several experienced campaigners such as Inter Milan's Javier Zanetti.

"The players have always done what was necessary to attain their objective, to the last penalty," the 56-year-old added.

"It's a defeat which hurts badly," said veteran striker Hernan Crespo.

"At no time were Germany better than us -- and that makes it harder to take. We don't deserve to be going home so early."

Skipper Juan Pablo Sorin said: "I think the Germans got lucky with it going to penalties, which is a lottery. It was very frustrating as we gave it all we had. We matched Germany, in Germany, for 120 minutes and you can't ask for much more than that."

For scorer Roberto Ayala, whose 49th-minute header looked to have secured a win until ten minutes from the end when Miroslav Klose levelled, "it was a black day for Argentina."

Ayala was desolate after German keeper Jens Lehmann saved his spotkick.

"It will take a lot of time for the hurt to go," the 33-year-old Valencia star told reporters after he failed to book a semi-final date which would have taken him level with Diego Simeone's record 106 caps for Argentina.

Midfielder Esteban Cambiasso was in tears after his spot kick was saved by Lehmann.

"How can it end like this? It's a terrible way to go out," stammered the Inter Milan star, who has had a terrible past few months struggling with a personal problem.

Striker Carlos Tevez concurred.

"It's a defeat which really hurts badly, especially as we gave all we could out there. But that's football, especially when it comes down to spotkicks," said the Corinthians attacker.

The players were circumspect on the fisticuffs at the end which saw German team manager Oliver Bierhoff charge that German defender Per Mertesacker was kicked after the shootout, apparently by Argentinian defender Leandro Cufre before another Argentinian defender Gabriel Heinze joined the fray.

Crespo was the most forthcoming, while remaining diplomatic.

"We basically didn't appreciate the way they (the Germans) were jumping up and down during the penalties. I don't want to make too much of it but there was a lot of tension," said the Chelsea forward, whose future clubmate Michael Ballack insisted that he had not seen what had provoked the storm.

Cambiasso and Maxi Rodriguez also played down the incident, which FIFA is investigating.

"It's logical there was some frustration which spilled over at the end, but I'm not here to say who was at fault," said Cambiasso, while Rodriguez insisted: "It was nothing really -- it's not worth saying much about it."

Pekerman also played down the scenes.

"I think it was a spontaneous situation arising from a very emotional moment," he explained.

Argentine football fans swallowed their disappointment at their World Cup exit on penalties but on Saturday called on coach Pekerman to stay in his post despite his stated intention to resign.

Newspapers showed polls suggesting most fans wanted Pekerman, who led the albiceleste to under-20 world titles in 1995, 1997 and 2001, to stay on -- or else for ageing veteran Carlos Bianchi to take on the post.

Pekerman, 56 and credited with the blooding of a raft of young stars, including Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, had been in the post only two years, replacing Marcelo Bielsa who, was in charge of Argentina at the last World Cup.

According to a poll in La Nacion daily, three in four people said no to the question "should Pekerman quit the national team?"

Just 20 percent said yes.

Clarin and Ole dailies ran a similar poll with a similar result, finding 73 percent of fans backed Pekerman.

But if he is not swayed by their loyalty and steps down the fans want to see Bianchi, former coach with Boca Juniors and who recently ended an unsuccessful stint with Atletico Madrid, installed.

For Clarin, 54 percent backed Bianchi if Pekerman goes with former star Diego Maradona way behind on 12.3 percent.

Ole found that Bianchi scored a 38 percent vote ahead of 28 for Pekerman if he stays in contention.