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Soccer-Malaysia look abroad for new talent with local roots

KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 (Reuters) - With Malaysia languishing in their worst ever position of 164th in the FIFA rankings, the country is searching far and wide for new talent to halt the slide but it refuses to copy the methods used by regional rivals Indonesian and Singapore.

Former Australian international Scott Ollerenshaw, now an agent based in Sabah, said Malaysia were reaching out to players with local "connection" in Switzerland, England and Australia to come to Southeast Asia and try their luck.

"We are not trying to get their citizenship like what Indonesia and Singapore had done before," he told the Star, taking a pop shot at local rivals who used residency rules to recruit foreign players for the national team.