Argentina coach Alfio Basile was delighted to beat Uruguay, but was angered by the physicality of their opponents.

But despite seeing his side end their five-match winless run and move up to second in the South American World Cup Qualifying group, Basile was less then pleased with the tactics of the visitors.

"There were some very hard fouls but the referee didn't react. He was a disaster," said the Argentina boss.

"We were deserved winners. We could have opened up a bigger lead in the first half but in the second half, it was impossible to play.

"The Uruguayans were very violent."

As a result of the physical encounter, Basile will be sweating on the fitness of Aguero, Martin Demichelis and Javier Mascherano for next Wednesday's game against Chile in Santiago.

"We will have to wait and see how they feel in the next days," he said of the injured trio.

Defender Demichelis agreed with his coach's assessment of Paraguayan referee Carlos Torres.

"The performance of the referee was pathetic," he said. "Uruguay committed many fouls but he didn't do anything. He clearly lost the control of the game during the second half."

Messi escaped injury and was more pleased with the result.

"The most important thing is that we won and the fans returned home with smiles on their faces," said the Barcelona star.

"We played a brilliant first half-hour and we didn't deserve to suffer until the end," added Manchester United forward Carlos Tevez.

Meanwhile, Uruguay forward Sebastian Abreu was critical of his team's performance.

"We almost couldn't create any chances. We didn't play well and I think we deserved to lose," he said.

"Were we violent? No, I believe both teams were physical. But the referee did not have his best afternoon," the River Plate player added.

Argentina travel to Santiago to face Chile on Wednesday while Uruguay will face Bolivia in La Paz.