The SAR women's futsal team held their heads high on Tuesday despite being eliminated from the AFC Asian Cup, losing 5-2 to Thailand in the quarter-finals.

It's the first time Hong Kong, China have reached the last eight of the competition, but top-ranked Thailand proved too strong in the showdown in the Inner Mongolian capital, Hohhot.

The Thais opened the scoring in the first minute and raced to a 5-0 lead, before midfielder Wu Choi-yiu got one back for the SAR before halftime.

Defender So Hoi-lam scored in the second half but that was as close as Hong Kong, China got.

Speaking after the match, So said she was nervous early on, noting that the SAR lost to the youth teams in Thailand during training there.

Despite a big deficit at the break, she said she regained her composure and played better after the coach's halftime team talk.

"We achieved our target of making the quarter-finals, showing to the world, to Asia, that the women's football team from Hong Kong, China, can do it," So said.

She described the team's journey as a dream come true.

"Hopefully we can advance to even later stages in future Asian Cups," she added.

The football association's futsal manager, Tsang Wai-chung, praised the team for showing the Hong Kong spirit, saying they never quit all tournament and always fought hard even when they fell behind.

He said their performance showed there's room for the development of futsal in Hong Kong.