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Soccer-Tabarez calls for more calm on the ball from his players

LA SERENA, June 20 (Reuters) - Uruguay must take that extra second making decisions on the ball to have a chance of retaining their Copa America crown, coach Oscar Tabarez said on Saturday. The holders reached the last eight in third place in Group B following a 1-1 draw with Paraguay and must wait to learn who their opponents will be after Sunday's Group C matches. "The match was as hard as we thought, played according to the characteristics of the teams," Tabarez told reporters. "There was a lot of battling for the ball. "In the second half we came close more times (than them) but lacked calm at key moments of the match. We didn't make the most of chances we had in the Paraguay box." Tabarez added he felt the team's spirit is what has helped them overcome apparently insurmountable odds in the nine years since he took charge. This is the sixth time in seven tournaments that Uruguay have scraped into the last eight of the Copa America as one of the best third-placed teams and on five of those occasions they went on to reach the semi-finals. Paraguay, unbeaten in their three matches and top of the group before Argentina's match with Jamaica, have improved under new coach Ramon Diaz after a disappointing spell during which they failed to reach the 2014 World Cup finals. "(Uruguay) played well in spells and were better than us but the team reacted and we were able to draw level," Diaz said. Midfielder Nestor Ortigoza came off with what appeared to be a hamstring injury and Diaz suggested he might see no further action in the tournament. "Orti was having a great championship," he said. (Reporting by Mariana Bazo; Writing by Rex Gowar; Editing by Greg Stutchbury)