MEDIA RELEASE

RAMPANT AUSTRALIA BLAST SEVEN GOALS PAST HOSTS MALAYSIA
KUALA LUMPUR (31 Jan 2008) – A rampant Australian side blasted seven goals past a hapless Malaysia as they romped to a convincing 7-0 win in their second match in Group A of the KL World 5s here at the Stadium Negara in Kuala Lumpur.

MALAYSIA'S JAMHURI ZAINUDDIN (No.13 in blue)/ Mohd Ruzaley Abdul Aziz (No.8) - AUSTRALIA'S Keith Robert Simon.
The Aussies, who had made short work of Indonesia in their first game on Monday, had the day off yesterday, which seemed to work to give them an advantage as they raced to a 4-0 lead by the break – giving impetus for coach Scott Sullivan to call his side the best yet.

"It had always been hard to get all the players that I want but this time when I called 12 players to play in this tournament, they all wanted to come and the result is that we have probably the best Australian side since I took over the national team seven years ago," said Sullivan. "We had two training sessions before coming to Kuala Lumpur and the players have all been fantastic as they kept to the gameplan to win our second game in as many matches."

Malaysia got off to a poor start when they conceded two goals in the first minute of play – the first off a penalty which was converted by Adrian Vizzari and then the second from Fernando de Moraes.

With Italy-based Greg Giovenali provided good defensive cover for his goalkeeper, the Australians foraged freely up front and scored two more goals off Moraes in the 12th minute and then Keith Simon three minutes later for a comfortable lead.

The second half was all Australia as they added goals from Giovenali (22nd minute), Simon (24th) and Vizzari (25th).

"It is a disappointing result and I don't want to make excuses but I think that we seriously need the league to be better," added P. Balakrishnan.

Australia's Flanigan Russel Trent (No.6 in yellow) / Malaysia's Mohd Ruzaley Abdul Aziz (No.8)
"If we have a progressive league we will have better players able to settle down early in the game as you ca see, we could not recover from being two goals down."

Australia plays Argentina tomorrow at 5pm, in a match between the two unbeaten teams in Group A.

The KL World 5's takes place between 29th January and 3rd February 2008 at Stadium Negara, Malaysia's first indoor stadium and a national heritage building. The event will be telecasted to over 310 million viewers across Asia on STAR Sports with over 100 hours of coverage, comprising 30 telecast hours, including 20 hours of live programming - translating into extensive media exposure for Malaysia.

The KL World 5's will have a total purse of US$150,000, and feature 10 teams in this prestigious tournament. The event is expected to draw futsal fans from Malaysia and the region with the pedigree of the international teams such as Brazil, Argentina, Holland and England will join the likes of Asian champion Iran, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and hosts Malaysia in action.

ESPN STAR Sports and the Ministry of Youth and Sports have a rich tradition of partnerships stemming from a multi-year strategic alliance signed in October 2005 to raise participation and interest in sport in Malaysia.

FIXTURES and RESULTS (31 Jan, 2008)

10am: Australia vs Malaysia(7-0)
1pm: Holland vs Iran 
3pm: Indonesia vs Argentina 
6pm: Brazil vs Thailand 
9pm: England vs Australia 

CURRENT STANDINGS

Group A
  P W D L F A PTS
ARGENTINA 2 2 0 0 19 2 6
AUSTRALIA 2 2 0 0 12 1 6
INDONESIA 3 1 0 2 10 10 3
MALAYSIA 3 1 0 2 4 16 3
ENGLAND 2 0 0 2 3 19 0

Group B
  P W D L F A PTS
BRAZIL 2 2 0 0 8 0 6
THAILAND 2 1 1 0 8 4 4
HOLLAND 2 1 1 0 6 4 4
IRAN 1 0 0 1 0 4 0
CHINA 3 0 0 3 2 8 0

About the KL World 5's

The KL World 5's takes place between 29th January and 3rd February 2008 at Stadium Negara, Malaysia's first indoor stadium and a national heritage building. The event will be telecasted to over 310 million viewers across Asia on STAR Sports with over 100 hours of coverage, comprising 30 telecast hours, including 20 hours of live programming - translating into extensive media exposure for Malaysia.

The KL World 5's will have a total purse of US$150,000, and feature 10 teams in this prestigious tournament. The event is expected to draw futsal fans from Malaysia and the region with the pedigree of the international teams such as Brazil, Argentina, Holland and England will join the likes of Asian champion Iran, China, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia and hosts Malaysia in action.

ESPN STAR Sports and the Ministry of Youth and Sports have a rich tradition of partnerships stemming from a multi-year strategic alliance signed in October 2005 to raise participation and interest in sport in Malaysia.

For more information, please visit www.klworld5s.com

About ESPN STAR Sports

ESPN STAR Sports is a 50:50 joint venture between two of the world's leading cable and satellite broadcasters. As Asia's definitive and complete sports broadcaster and content provider, ESPN STAR Sports combines the strengths and resources of its ultimate parent companies – Walt Disney (ESPN, Inc.) and News Corporation Limited (STAR) – to deliver a diverse array of international and regional sports to viewers via its encrypted pay and free-to-air services.

ESPN STAR Sports showcases an unparalleled variety of premier live sports from around the globe 24 hours a day to a cumulative reach of more than 310 million viewers in Asia. ESPN STAR Sports has 17 networks covering 24 countries, each localised to deliver differentiated world-class premier sports programming to Asian viewers. This includes ESPN Asia, ESPN China, ESPN Hong Kong, ESPN India, ESPN Malaysia, ESPN Philippines, ESPN Singapore, ESPN Taiwan, MBC-ESPN (Korea), STAR Sports Asia, STAR Sports Hong Kong, STAR Sports India, STAR Sports Malaysia, STAR Sports Singapore, STAR Sports Southeast Asia, STAR Sports Taiwan, and STAR Cricket.  

On the ground, the ESPN STAR Sports Event Management Group manages and promotes premier sporting events around Asia. ESPN STAR Sports aims to reach consumers at any time, any place and through all new media platforms, both internet and mobile. The multi-lingual, online platforms, espnstar.com, espnstar.com.cn and espnstar.com.tw and footballcrazy.tv interact with millions of users providing them with in-depth sports news, results and competitions. Developed for the sports fan that is constantly on the move, mobileESPN and STAR Sports Mobile delivers differentiated mobile content targeted at its various audiences. mobileESPN enables the serious sports fan to follow their favourite sports more closely than ever before with a combination of specially produced video news clips, in-depth news coverage and analysis. STAR Sports Mobile aims to provide interactive and entertaining opportunities to engage with sports, delivering exclusive video excerpts from leading football clubs Arsenal and Liverpool as well as highlights from STAR Sports original programmes covering opinions, instructional tips and the latest online game reviews.

For more information, please contact:

Abdul Rahman (Twenty Four Seven Sdn Bhd)
Tel: 012-6637454
abdulrahman@media247.com.my

Elgen Kua (ESPN STAR Sports)
DID: +65 6216 6034
kuae@espnstar.com