Centre back Ronny Harun was dejected with Malaysia's exit as he believes the team prepared well for the tournament

Yet again Ronny Harun produced another good shift at centre back but it wasn't enough to help Malaysia qualify for the semi--final of the 2016 AFF Suzuki Cup. For only the third time in 11 editions have Malaysia failed to progress beyond the group stage.

Facing up against Aung Thu was never the easiest of task and on top of that, the Myanmar midfielders also provided adequate support in attack but Ronny stood out in defence. With three out of four successful aerial duels, three interceptions and one block; Ronny gave it all he got and was understandably dejected at the end of it.

"We've tried our best to find the goal but we're unable to get it till the end. Just like against Vietnam, we conceded at the end and it's dissapointing. We've prepared one month to come into this tournament so it's hard to take," said Ronny.

In many ways reminiscent to the Vietnam game where the opponent also scored a late winner, David Htan's goal in the 89th minute was sufficient to send the host through to a big semi-final clash against Thailand. Malaysia started with two strikers but were overwhelmed from start to finish by some enterprising attacking display from the home team.

"We played to win. We knew they were fast in attack but we were ready for that. At the end we had to put many offensive players in to find the goals and maybe that's one of the reason we got so exposed in that goal," added Ronny.

If there's one positive from this tournament, it has been Ronny Harun's performance in the last two matches that brought some stability to the defence but at the age of 32, it remains to be seen just how many more opportunities will this Sabah-born player get.