Rozaimi on a spree

New Straits Times
 By AJITPAL SINGH  
ajitpalsingh@nst.com.my 
CLASS: Scores four goals to get Malaysia back on track

Rozaimi Abd Rahman was in his element against the Philippines.

 ROZAIMI Abd Rahman helped himself to four goals as Malaysia bounced back for their first win in the AFC Under-22 Qualifiers by thrashing the Philippines 7-0 at the Aung Sun Stadium in Yangon yesterday. The midfielder opened the floodgates in the second minute before adding to his tally in the 35th, 74th and 69th minutes.

Fandi Othman (32nd), Wan Zaharulnizam Zakaria (40th) and substitute D. Saarvindran (90th) completed the rout. The Philippines defended in numbers and hardly penetrated their rivals' half throughout the match. It was Malaysia's biggest win since the senior team thrashed Lesotho 5-0 in a friendly on Sept 11, 2009.

The victory will put them in good stead for their next match against Taiwan, who were embarrassed 8-1 by South Korea yesterday, on Thursday. "It is a great result but we should not get carried away as we still have matches to play," said Kim Swee in Yangon yesterday.

On Rozaimi's performance, Kim Swee said the player surprised him. "Rozaimi is normally not sharp in training but today (yesterday) he proved to me that he can score wonderful goals. "I hope he will continue to make an impression here and he adds to my options of goal scorers," said the 41-year-old coach.

Kim Swee said his players must shift their focus on to the remaining matches. "Only the top two teams will qualify for the tournament proper next year and after losing 3-2 to South Korea on Saturday, we must win our other matches to finish at least second.

"Taiwan are a good team and we need to look at videos of their matches before deciding on tactics. I have told my players not to get over-confident as our mission is far from over," Kim Swee added.