With their hopes of reaching the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup for a fifth time in six editions over, Philippines will have little but pride to play for in their final Group A game against Myanmar on Saturday.
In spite of their obvious disappointment, it has been a trying campaign for the Azkals especially given their preparations were far from ideal with a number of players joining up with the squad belatedly, even after the competition had begun.
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A 2-1 loss to Thailand on Tuesday coupled with a defeat to hosts Singapore by the same scoreline in their tournament opener saw Philippines eliminated with a game still remaining, despite having recorded a dominant 7-0 win over Timor-Leste in their second outing.
With that in mind, Philippines coach Stewart Hall believes their failure to advance from the group stage is probably a fair assessment of their performances overall but is still hoping to sign off with a second win from four games.
"Our preparations have probably been the worst in the tournament. You look at teams like Vietnam and the time they had together, or Singapore and the number of (warm-up) games they played - we have played still arriving after our second game," said Hall.
"Obviously with the objective of increasing the talent base of Philippines, the recruitment strategy was to look outside the country for greater talent but the knock-on effect is that these players will not always be available.
"If we do indeed get the second win and finish with two wins and two defeats, and the fact that in those two defeats we stayed in the game until the 94 minute, we are where we at based on the performances.
"Still, we've disappointed but we have to keep going and make sure it's not a case where some people have already packed their suitcases and are looking forward to Christmas, and end the tournament with some credit."
Philippines will definitely be without captain Stephan Schrock, who has left the team to be with his wife in the final stages of her pregnancy, while Hall also confirmed centre-back Amani Aguinaldo will likely be rested following his exertions in their previous three matches.
This will allow the Azkals to blood some of their younger prospects, although 18-year-old Sandro Reyes - who previously spent time at Barcelona's academy -- will not feature against Myanmar from the start.
"I've been impressed with him (Reyes) -- he's a good talent and the youngest boy we've brough here. He won't start but our objective is to try to get him on the field," revealed Hall.
"I can tell you that we have eight under-23 players here and four of them will start."