Reggie Lambe, the Bermuda forward, said he was proud of the team’s battling performances against Guatemala in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers.

Bermuda’s qualifying journey came to an end on Monday night after losing 1-0 at the National Stadium, having earned an impressive goalless draw in Guatemala in Friday’s first leg.

Lambe insists the players can hold their heads up high after frustrating Guatemala, who are ranked 33 positions above them in the Fifa world rankings.

“I’m proud of the team; it’s just upsetting that we couldn’t come away with the victory,” said the 24-year-old. “It’s disappointing and I felt we could have defended that goal a bit better. We had a few scoring chances that we could have taken as well.”

Lambe, who plays for Mansfield Town in the Sky Bet League Two, said the team gave everything they had but lacked cutting edge in the final third against a defensively sound team.

“In Guatemala we were trying to defend, whereas we were trying to free ourselves up a bit more [in the home leg],” he said.

“That’s why they had much more space to play, although we had much more space as well. They took their chance and we didn’t.”

The former Toronto FC player said he relished the opportunity to play in front of a large home crowd and believes there is plenty more to come from coach Andrew Bascome’s young team.

“It’s a proud moment, with all the fans coming out,” Lambe added. “Even though we lost they’re still here to support us.

“I wish we could have come away with a victory and advanced to the next round. Hopefully we can push again next year with the Caribbean Cup. It’s a very young team, so it’s looking bright for the future.

“We just need to add more experience for the young players, and once they get that we’ll be able to push on and beat teams like Guatemala.”

Keishen Bean, the Bermuda captain, echoed Lambe’s sentiments and believes there are reasons for optimism for Bascome’s side.

“The coach’s tactics were right, and the way we went about the game was correct,” said the 28-year-old.

“The result was just unfortunate, but when you put it in perspective, a population of 65,000 against a population of 16 million — well, we couldn’t ask for much more. We’re proud of each other. They were heavy favourites, so to come out of the two-legged affair with a 1-0 loss is impressive.”

Bean believes Bermuda will become more respected on the world stage after their encouraging World Cup campaign.

“Now they definitely respect us,” Bean said. “I don’t think any of these teams will want to play us again during the next World Cup qualifying campaign, trust me.

“The average age of the group is 23, so this is exciting going into next year’s Caribbean Cup.”

Bermuda advanced to the second round of qualifying after an 8-0 aggregate win over Bahamas.