“When you lose the possibility to go to the next round it’s so painful,” said Oiwa. “I felt a great responsibility to the team in this round, but I’m proud of the players, especially of what they did in the second half.

“I recognise that Guangzhou Evergrande are a strong team, they have players who have a high level of skill, but until injury time we had the possibility to beat them. Unfortunately though it didn’t happen. We respect them and this is the result.

“I’m happy to be able to fight in this game with our fans and with the players. Unfortunately I made them sad, but we can be proud of what we have done. The experience we have gained here can make our team stronger in the future.”

Kashima went into the game without influential midfielder Kento Misao as well as Ryohei Shirasaki, both of whom picked up injuries in Saturday’s J.League win over FC Tokyo, but Oiwa refused to use their absence as an excuse for his side’s elimination from the competition.

“These two are very important players for us, but I put in Ryota Nagaki and Shintaro Nago and I also think they’re irreplaceable players for us and they did what they had to do,” he said.

“I thought their performances were good, but the result wasn’t what we targeted. They will feel frustrated, but hopefully they can use that and it will help them in the future.”

Oiwa expressed his regret at Kashima's elimination from the tournament at the quarter-final stage and called on his players to refocus as they return to domestic action next Wednesday, when they face Yokohama F Marinos in the Round of 16 of the Emperor’s Cup.

“I feel a great responsibility for going out of the tournament and I also feel pain that the result has turned out to be something that has let our supporters down,” he said. “That causes me pain."

“However, our players’ performances, especially in the second half, and their attitude and the action they took are something that I can give credit to them for. We came so close to overcoming the strength of Guangzhou.

“I told the players that we have to learn something from this game and to move on to the next target.

“Unfortunately we lost the opportunity to go to the next round and to defend the title. It’s sad, but we have to go on and we have to focus on our next game and when we play in the Emperor’s Cup, we have to do better on the pitch.”

Photos: AFP