KUALA LUMPUR: Head coach Takayoshi Ishihara insists Malaysia's Under-17 women's squad have proved that qualifying for the Asian Cup finals is well within their reach in the near future.
The Young Tigresses fell at the final hurdle on Sunday, suffering a 4-0 defeat to a clinical Indian side in their Group E decider at the Selayang Stadium to miss out on the solitary qualification ticket.
Despite the painful outcome in front of a near-full stadium, Ishihara refused to let the defeat dampen the progress made by his charges, who finished second in the group with six points following convincing wins over Syria (1-0) and Iraq (4-0).
"Honestly, we really wanted to qualify this time, and the players believed that we could do it," said the Japanese coach.
