KUALA LUMPUR: Philippines coach Carles Cuadrat (pic) took the positives from his side’s Hyundai AFF Cup campaign despite their 0-1 defeat to Malaysia ending their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.

“Congratulations to Malaysia. I think that they deserved the qualification. They have got nine points and they have shown that they are a good team,” he said.

He described the contest as one decided by fine margins.

“It was a game of small margins. They scored because we made a mistake in that action, we allowed the cross, we lost the heading.

“Something similar happened against Thailand,” he explained, adding that his side also had opportunities to level the score.

Despite a hostile atmosphere, Cuadrat praised his players’ composure.

“The atmosphere was great for Malaysia, but all our players were calm enough to try to play our match plan and to try to get some points,” he said, noting that several of the squad would reconvene in Japan within a month, with the backline likely to feature Noah Leddel, Jaime Rosquillo, Adrian Ugelvik, Scott Woods and John Lucero once again.

The coach was candid about the squad limitations he faced, with several first-choice players unavailable.

“We couldn’t get our best players. We were not here with Carli De Murga, Amani Aguinaldo, Raphael Obermair, Michael Kempter, Gerrit Holtmann, Manny Ott, Dennis Cagara,” he said, explaining that clubs were not obliged to release players outside the FIFA international window.

He added that the tournament had instead served as a testing ground ahead of the Asian Games and for identifying fringe talents who could break into the senior squad.

Among the standout performers, Cuadrat singled out 19-year-old Kenshiro Daniels, who only joined the squad in June, as well as midfielder Scott Woods.

“It’s a new discovery for us, we are very happy with him,” he said of Daniels.

Cuadrat also paid tribute to veteran goalkeeper Patrick Deyto, who announced his retirement from international football after the match.