BANGKOK, Dec 15 — Malaysian national football coach Pau Marti Vicente is optimistic that his team can still advance to the semi-finals of the 2024 Asean Championship despite a narrow 1-0 Group A loss to Thailand last night.

Vicente expressed pride in his players’ performance, especially as they were playing away against the defending champions of the tournament.

"We didn’t deserve tonight’s result, but this is football. We defended and attacked quite well, but a single goalkeeper error was punished by our opponents,” he said during the post-match press conference here.

The coach emphasised that mistakes are part and parcel of the game and refrained from blaming goalkeeper Muhammad Haziq Nadzli for the costly error.

"We’re all humans and mistakes happen. Unfortunately, a goalkeeper’s error often leads to a goal, whereas errors in other positions may go unpunished. We need to support Haziq to ensure he doesn’t dwell on this and is ready for the next match,” Vicente added.

Looking ahead, Vicente said his team still have a chance to qualify (for the last four) if they deliver a strong performance and beat Singapore in their final group match at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Dec 20.

Malaysia suffered their first defeat of the tournament in their third Group A match at the Rajamangala National Stadium.

Thai forward Patrik Gustavsson netted the decisive goal in the 57th minute after a misplaced pass by Haziq.

Meanwhile, Thailand head coach Masatada Ishii was pleased with his team’s hard-fought victory.

"Tactically, we didn’t play as well as we could, especially in attack. I hope the players will improve in the next game,” Ishii said.

Thailand’s attacking midfielder, Suphanat Mueanta was named the Man of the Match after providing the assist for the only goal of the match.

Malaysia, who drew 2-2 with Cambodia in their opening match and beat Timor-Leste 3-2 on Wednesday (Dec 11) have four points from three outings to be placed third in the five-team Group A standings, behind Thailand and Singapore, who both have six points from two matches. — Bernama