Malaysia U23 head coach Ong Kim Swee has hinted that he may leave his position after seeing his side lose 1-0 to defending champions Thailand at Singapore's Bishan Stadium on Thursday.
Despite matching Choketawee Promrut's team for much of the game, the Malaysians were undone by an 81st minute goal from Thai captain Sarach Yooyen.
It was an improved performance after Tuesday's 5-1 drubbing by Vietnam, despite the absence of key midfielder Nazmi Faiz who was given a six-match ban earlier in the tournament.
Malaysia's play their final Group B games against Brunei on June 8 and Laos on June 11 which may mark the end of Ong's six year reign in charge of the U23 side. He guided Malaysia to the gold medal in the 2011 SEA Games in Jakarta.
He said: "I'm not sure. Let me finish my two remaining games against Brunei and Laos. Probably I'll decide after that and I think it is enough to handle three SEA Games."
The loss effectively ended Malaysia's hopes of qualifying for the semifinals. Ong admitted that Thailand and Vietnam were better prepared than his side who had the odds stacked against them from the start.
He said: "Realistically, Thailand, Malaysia and Vietnam were running for two spots. So whoever loses the first game against each other will be under pressure.
"And of course, unfortunately we had to play Vietnam first and we lost. And that made it very difficult, moreover, we played not even after 48 hours against Thailand at four o'clock in the afternoon. So it is advantage for Vietnam and Thailand.
"If you ask me, you have to compare four years ago how we prepared our team, two years ago how we prepared our team and you know how we prepared our team this time.
"It's not a blaming game. For me, we have to sit back and look at our program and we have to admit that Thailand and Vietnam are definitely on top of us at the moment."
When asked about which country he expects to win the gold medal, Ong leans towards the defending champions.
"It is still too early to say," noted Ong. "I have not seen the other group but for me, of course Thailand are the favourites."