Hanoi: Bitterly disappointed to have lost in the final they might have been but post-match Malaysia already wanted to point to the future after a campaign in which they impressed many.

Defender Aidil Zafuan said he feels that the experience of having upset the odds to bundle Thailand out in the semifinals should set the Harimau Malaya up nicely for another tilt at regional glory in 2020.

“Before the tournament we knew that we were not the favourites so by going to the final we did something for Malaysia.

“Whilst I don’t want to accept just going to the final we showed we can reach that level.

“I want to thank also all the Malaysian supporters and assure them that we did everything we could and let them know we will be back in two years time even stronger.”

Having fallen behind in just the sixth minute to a Nguyen Anh Duc goal the visitors had a mountain to climb to try and fight their way back into the contest but Aidil was proud of the efforts of his team despite the 1-0 loss on the evening.

“We did our best and I want to say thanks to my teammates as they all gave 100% but this is football and sometimes we can win and sometimes we will lose.”