FOOTBALL: Rozaimi the star again

AFC UNDER-22: His brace helps Malaysia beat Taiwan

MALAYSIA edged closer to the AFC Under-22 Championships finals after a 4-2 win over Taiwan in a Group G qualifier at the Aung San Stadium in Yangon yesterday as striker Rozaimi Abdul Rahman continued his rich-vein of form by scoring twice.

The win was the perfect morale-booster as Malaysia prepare to take on Vietnam in a crucial game tomorrow before finishing the qualifying fixtures against Myanmar on Tuesday.
Malaysia, now on six points from three matches, raced to a 3-0 lead at the break with Rozaimi scoring in the eighth and 41st minutes to take his tournament tally to six, either side of an own goal by Taiwan defender Chen Yen-Jui in the 33rd.

Lack of concentration allowed Taiwan's Lin Chang-Lun to pull one back six minutes into the second half before D. Saarvindran scored his second goal of the tournament in the 78th minute, only for Malaysia to concede another goal in stoppage time to Wen Chih-Hao.

"The most important thing was to take the three points," said coach Ong Kim Swee in a telephone interview from Yangon. "We led 3-0 at half-time but I was worried about Taiwan coming back in the second half and that is what happened.

"We let in two goals through a lack of concentration and for the second goal, one of the defenders slipped because of the slippery field caused by rain all day. However, we were able to attack all the way and even hit the post three times."

"Almost all the players have played at least once as I need to keep them fresh for the next two matches against Vietnam and Myanmar. We have achieved back-to-back wins but I'll be making some changes for the Vietnam match (tomorrow)," added Kim Swee.

Vietnam claimed their first win in three matches with a 9-0 hammering of hapless Philippines while Myanmar and South Korea were playing in a late match yesterday.

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