Australia coach Guus Hiddink was left to bemoan a harsh penalty after his side were knocked out of the World Cup in injury time by Italy.
Francesco Totti converted with the last kick of the game after Lucas Neill was adjudged to have felled Fabio Grosso.
But Hiddink said: "You can have doubts about the penalty, it was questionable.
"We are very disappointed because we were so close. I think the only thing we can blame ourselves for is that we were not deadly enough in the area."
Australia failed to take advantage after Italy were reduced to 10 men when Marco Materazzi was sent off six minutes into the half.
"With the extra man after the sending off we should have taken our chance"
But, despite their lack of efficiency in the box, Hiddink added: "I am proud of this team, not only of the way they played today but in previous games."
Midfielder Tim Cahill was more upset with the penalty, claming: "We played well and went out to get a goal - but then this guy falls over in the box and he gets a penalty."
However, keeper Mark Schwarzer admitted the Socceroos had not done enough to make the most of their advantage, saying: "We put the Italians under a lot of pressure. I'd say we were clearly the better team today.
"The problem was we didn't score a goal and, with the extra man after the sending off we should have taken our chance."
Skipper Mark Viduka added: "I think we dominated the match for many parts and with an extra player it made it easier for us but it's a really bad way to go out.
"We're obviously happy we've got this far but so disappointing to go out in the fashion we did."