KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia advanced to the Asean Under-23 championship football semi-finals by beating Timor Leste 3-1 to emerge as Group B winners at the Rayong Stadium in Thailand today.
On target for the Young Tigers were Alif Ikmalrizal Anuar (fifth and 65th minutes) and Aliff Izwan Yuslan (13th).
Timor Leste got their consolation goal through Olagar Xavier (41st).
Malaysia coach E. Elavarasan rested several key players - including striker Fergus Tierney and first-choice goalkeeper Rahadiazli Rahalim but it didn't affect the team.
Malaysia will take on Group C winners Vietnam on Thursday. Vietnam edged the Philippines 1-0.
Malaysia's best achievement in the tournament was fourth in 2005. At the last edition, held in Cambodia, Malaysia failed to get past the group stage, ending their campaign without a win.