BANGKOK -- The disappointment was clear on the face of Singapore captain Hariss Harun.
Despite his side having just claimed a first win over Thailand in 14 years -- a stirring 2-1 triumph away at Rajamangala Stadium on Tuesday evening -- it just was not enough to keep them alive in the 2026 ASEAN Championship, as they bowed out of the semifinals 4-3 on aggregate.
Ultimately, a 3-1 home loss in the opening encounter at the weekend proved too big a hurdle to overcome even though the Lions threatened to pull off the most improbable of second-leg comebacks courtesy of a opportunistic 35-yard strike from Harhys Stewart and a Pansa Hemviboon own-goal -- with Kakana Khamyok's penalty for the Thais proving vital in the end.
There will be plenty of positives for Singapore to take into the future but, most of all, Hariss believes there is also plenty of them to learn as he stoically acknowledged that the final result speaks for itself.
"We won the game, but ultimately over two legs, we were not good enough," Hariss solemnly told ESPN after the match. "We didn't get the result.
"After the first goal, we could smell a little bit what we wanted to achieve - the result that we needed here. But conceding the penalty didn't help us.
"We still kept pushing. I think that was something we can take away, and I think something about this team -- over the last year or so -- is that whatever result, whether we are leading or we concede a goal, we keep pushing and fighting all the way until the end.
"And we saw more of that today. But we ran out of time and we didn't get the result over two legs. We go back, take this lesson and try to be a better team."
As a whole, reaching the semis should be viewed as an achievement for Singapore given they overcame a tentative start at the tournament - only narrowly beating the unfancied duo of Cambodia and Timor-Leste -- to qualify out of a group also consisting two regional powerhouses in Vietnam and Indonesia.
A big positive for future competition will be the fact that the Lions peaked as they got further into the tournament, although consistency is still something they could improve on.
"I think we didn't start [the tournament] particularly well, in terms of performance," Hariss reflected. "We got the result we needed in the first game, and then we did what we needed to get out of the group stage.
"Performance-wise, there was a little bit of ups and downs. We were getting better up until the Indonesia game [a come-from-behind 1-1 draw that sealed qualification for the semis]. Of course, given what was at stake, it was a little bit topsy-turvy.
"Then, of course, the first leg against Thailand wasn't too good. It was a mixed performance again. The first half was not good, second half was a little bit better but not enough.
"And today was a much, much better performance overall but, again, the result is not enough."
Singapore can certainly take heart from the manner in which they ended their 14-year hoodoo against the Thais, who are the tournament's record seven-time champions and, historically, the dominant force of Southeast Asian football.
Even if the War Elephants were missing a whole host of regular stars, they still boasted some formidable quality -- with Singapore becoming the first team at the tournament to both score against, and beat, them.
"For sure," replied Hariss, when asked if the performance gave the team greater belief that they are on the right path towards matching the best teams in Southeast Asia, as well as the wider continent.
"Even with the squad that they have, Thailand have quality players. Of course, some of the big names were not in the team but still, we could see that they had individual quality.
"When you give them that chance, the space, they will punish you. That's something we need to learn.
"But I think we can take heart as a team that we could compete. We could really give them a fight, and I think we had them on the back foot for most of the game today.
"If we were a little bit sharper, and had a little more edge to us, we could have got the goals that we needed. But it is what it is.
"We can talk for days about what we should have done or could have done, but this is football. Now we've got to put this behind us.
"I think it was a good performance from us today. Then again, I'm going to say it again -- the result was not enough.
"So now we look ahead to the next one."
