The 45-year old was shown the door by the South East Asians after three losses in Group C, including a 5-1 hammering against China and a 5-0 drubbing at the hands of Uzbekistan.

After guiding Malaysia for the last time during Wednesday's 2-0 defeat to Iran in the tournament, Norizan also admitted he was very proud of his players on a night when they defended resolutely against a regional powerhouse.

"There now have to be solutions found to the problems. There were definitely problems in terms of our preparation for this tournament. Problems though are meant to be solved," he said.

"With all the criticism and all the humiliation there has been, the morale of the players was very low going into this match, in fact it was going from bad to worse. I therefore have to take my hat off to them. They showed real guts in the way they played.

"I suppose nobody wants to be criticised. It was very hard for the players to play here. I have to say that the players showed their true selves tonight in terms of team spirit and togetherness."

The former Perlis and Penang boss, whilst philosophical about the news, was however adamant that he had been poorly treated.

Norizan added: "I was told prior to the Iran match and I must say that I think the decision is unfair as I have always tried my level best to achieve things with the personnel that I have at my disposal.

"You know, my training is as a teacher and I know full well that when a student fails I do not then immediately have to stop teaching. Having said that, this is football. In coaching there will always be hiring and firing and football is all about results and because of that I have to accept the decision."

Meanwhile Iran coach Amir Ghalenoei was happy with his team's performance and top place finish, a position that now means his side will now meet South Korea in the last eight.

He said: "I think that today's game was a very good one for our team. Even though we failed to convert too many of the chances we created to finish top of Group C with seven points, especially considering how tough this group was is very good indeed.

"This result means that we can now stay in Malaysia and we are happy about that," added the former Eteghlal boss.