BANGKOK: The national football team's 3-0 defeat to Thailand in the second leg of the AFF Cup semi-final yesterday proves that there is still a big gap in quality between the two countries.
Harimau Malaya defender Sharul Nazeem Zulpakar said the Thai players experience was what made the difference in the semifinal clash which Malaysia lost 3-1 on aggregate.
"There's a difference in the quality of the teams, probably because they have (more) players who have played (club football) aboard compared to us. I think we lost out in this aspect," said Sharul.
"We have tried our best and I don't blame anyone for this defeat. We are proud to have reached the semi-finals."
"We need to keep moving forward and focus on our preparations for the Asian Cup later this year."
During the second leg match, Thailand held 63 per cent of the possession and had seven shots on target. They also managed 81 per cent pass completion, compared to only 65 per cent for Malaysia.
The 24-year-old added that there are many areas which the national team needs to improve on.
"We can see that Thailand's game was better than us, we were a bit tired but we gave our everything in the game," he said.
"We need to improve on our weaknesses ahead of the Asian Cup."
The Asian Cup will be held in China on June 16-July 16.