KUANTAN: Malaysia rested a number of first choice players but still packed enough fire power to convincingly beat Thailand 3-0 in their final preliminary Merdeka Cup match at the Darul Makmur Stadium in Kuantan, Wednesday night.
Though the National Under-23 squad under the tutelage of coach Ong Kim Swee had already booked a berth in the final even before the kick off, they played with total commitment.
The win was Malaysia's third in as many matches, thus remained the only team with a perfect record in the competition.
In today's match, Mohammad Nasir Basharuddin and Md Rozaimi Abd Rahman were the toast of the team after scoring all three goals.
Nasir opened accounts for Malaysia in the 12th minute while Md Rozaimi scored the first of his brace in the 28th minute before scoring the second in the 81st minute.
Kim Swee's boys had already beaten Singapore 1-0 and Myanmar 2-1 in their two previous preliminary matches played last Saturday and Monday.
In the final on Sept 14, Malaysia will face Myanmar who beat Singapore 2-0 at the Temerloh Mini Stadium to sneak into the final ahead of Thailand.
Thailand and Singapore will play for third-fourth placing on the same day
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