Malaysia warmed up for the next round of the Asia Cup by hammering minnows Bangladesh 8-1 in their final Group B match at GBK Stadium in Jakarta yesterday.
World No 11 Malaysia had missed a penalty stroke but were dominant throughout the match, with penalty corner specialist Razie Rahim (fourth, 14th and 30th minutes) and forward Faizal Saari (24th, 31st and 46th) contributing six of the eight goals in the match.
Najmi Farizal (41st) and Ashran Hamsani (60th) completed the rout while Ashraful Islam scored for world No 31 Bangladesh in the 21st minute.
Malaysia topped the group with a maximum of nine points from three matches, scoring 20 goals and conceding five.
Faizal said: "I came here to help my team win every match and the title.
"It has been great in Group B. However, we have to play better in the next stage to achieve our dream," said Faizal yesterday.
South Korea defeated Oman 5-1 yesterday to finish second with six points. Malaysia and Korea will play in the Super-Four stage.
World No 16 Korea were not at their best yesterday as seven players were down with food poisoning.
"Seven of my players are down with food poisoning. They spent the entire morning in the toilet and were too weak to play.
"It was because of the hotel food," said Korea coach Shin Seok Kyo yesterday.
Bangladesh finished third with three points, followed by Oman, who lost all their matches.
The Super-Four round starts tomorrow. The three top teams will qualify for the World Cup together with hosts India.