KUALA LUMPUR (1st Feb 2008) Malaysia scored their second win of the KL World 5's beating England in a match that meant so much to their reputation as they qualify into the semi-final.

Malaysian keeper D. Supramanium (in grey) - England captain Richard Follett (in white)

With the win, Malaysia and Indonesia will be playing in the plate semi-finals as they look to cross swords against the third and fourth team from Group B – the oppositions they will know only later tonight.

For Malaysia, the reality is that England were not much of an opposition to the hosts.

And following England's record in the tournament, having lost all three of their matches in Group A, meant they were destined to compete in the bowl finals on Sunday, 3 February.

At the 10th min, the Stadium Negara crowd erupted after Fahdil Yusof easily tapped the ball into an empty net – the result of nifty passing by his teammates.

But even before the cheers subsided, England immediately pulled level with Alex Sykes hitting a ferocious shot that keeper D.Supramanium could barely had time to react, let alone save.

And thanks to Fahdil's heroics, Malaysia were ahead again in the 11th min, and another quick goal from skipper Addie Azwan Zainal, the scoreline read 3-1.

England's Alex Sykes (No.10 in white) - Malaysia's Jamhuri Zainuddin (No.13) - Mohd Feroz Abdul Karnim (No.14)

England, already looking downtrodden, conceded another two quick goals in succession from Fadhil in the 25th min made it 5-1. Fadzil Karnim made it 6-1 in the 35th min but the writing was on the wall for England and Marc Canham's 2nd goal for England in the 35th min merely provided the consolation they were looking for.

Said Graeme Dell, England's coach: "We came to KL with our eyes wide open. We knew it's going to be difficult. We certainly did not expect to win all four matches we played in our group.

"But we have learnt a lot from this trip and hopefully we will take the lesson learnt to improve our game. Of course our reputation as a footballing nation has taken a beating here but then again as I said, we are on a learning curve.

"The difference in standard between us and the rest, including Malaysia, shows that we are still new in the game and Malaysia are probably much better than us."

Malaysia's coach P. Balakrishnan: "Beating England is a great feeling and it will serve as a morale booster for the future of Malaysian futsal. But I knew we have a chance against England and we took our chances well today.

"Overall I am pleased with the performance of the team over the four matches we played where we won two (beating Indonesia as well) and losing two (to Argentine and Australia). It has been good for us."

FIXTURES and RESULTS (1st Feb, 2008)

10am: Iran vs China	(6-1)
3pm: Malaysia vs England	(6-2)
5pm: Australia vs Argentina
7pm: Brazil vs Holland
9pm: Thailand vs Iran

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CURRENT STANDINGS

Group A
	P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS
ARGENTINA	3	3	0	0	25	2	9
AUSTRALIA	3	3	0	0	18	2	9
MALAYSIA	4	2	0	2	10	18	6
INDONESIA	4	1	0	3	10	16	3
ENGLAND	4	0	0	4	6	31	0

Group B
	P	W	D	L	F	A	PTS
BRAZIL	3	3	0	0	12	0	9
IRAN	3	2	0	1	9	6	6
HOLLAND	3	1	1	1	7	7	4
THAILAND	3	1	1	1	8	8	3
CHINA	4	0	0	4	3	18	0

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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

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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