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Marcelo Bielsa has admitted that “nobody was interested” in what he tried to communicate after Uruguay’s early exit from the World Cup.

The 70-year-old former Leeds United manager endured a disappointing campaign with Uruguay, who finished third in Group H and failed to advance to the knockout rounds.

Uruguay managed only two points in their group stage, drawing against Saudi Arabia and Cape Verde before suffering a 1-0 defeat to Spain.

During a press conference that lasted one hour and 40 minutes, Bielsa gave a “very painful” farewell, expressing that “nothing” he attempted to convey was “important at any level”.

“What I am absolutely certain of is that nobody cares about what I know,” Bielsa told reporters.

He continued, “I know when someone values what I know. Nothing I tried to convey was important at any level. That was never significant from my perspective. I don’t see anything wrong with that — others simply aren’t interested in learning what I know. Case closed.”

“Nobody was interested in what I transmitted; I have not the slightest doubt about that,” he added.

“I experienced it similarly to an engineer who lived in Australia and wanted to become a manager in Montevideo. I said, ‘OK, come over.’ I shared what I knew, he accepted it, and he is now working in Uruguayan football. He’s the only one I recall who showed genuine interest.”

Bielsa concluded his lengthy press conference by addressing two specific incidents that occurred during the World Cup.

He explained why he looked downward during pre-match television introductions and also discussed his reaction in a post-match interview following the defeat to Spain.

“I wanted to mention something – an apology, in inverted commas. When they took my photo for FIFA, I’m not good at posing for pictures,” he said.

“And the second thing I wanted to address was after the match against Spain, when there are obligations with the companies that purchase broadcasting rights to give a certain number of interviews. They handle moments of anguish as if they were moments of joy.

“I reacted to the delay in the questions that I was obliged to answer, and I responded because they kept waiting and waiting, and I was overwhelmed with pain. That’s why perhaps I wasn’t as polite as I should have been.”