The national Football team has been undergoing gruelling training sessions upon their arrival at Brisbane.
And coach Dato Ong Kim Swee paid tribute to the Muslim players in his squad as they observed the fasting and at the same time gave it their all at training sessions.
Bearing in mind that it is the month of Ramadhan, Kim Swee holds his training sessions at 8pm as the players break fast at 5.10pm thus giving them ample time to digest the food and do their prayers.
The first training session , albeit for 90 minutes was held on Sunday night, hours after the team arrived at Brisbane, their training base before they embark on a 3 match tour against Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia and Fiji.
" The boys look good and hope we can keep consistent from last two games, " said Kim Swee when contacted in Brisbane.
" We had a short training yesterday ( Sunday) as we just arrived in the morning.
"The next three sessions will be intensive and focussing on tactical aspects."
The 115 minutes training sessions are held at the Queensland Sport and Athletic Centre where the pitch is a sight to behold.
Malaysia will travel to Papua New Guinea on Thursday for their first match scheduled on Friday.
Although there have been reports of unrest in PNG, Kim Swee said that he feels the match will not be affected.
" Of course we are monitoring the situation but things are much calmer now. So really I do not think the match will be called off," said Kim Swee who added that the FAM Security Ifficer with the team was monitoring the situation closely.
" These matches are vital to our preparations and I can sense the players are raring to go."
Kim Swee added that all the players had no injury problems and he had a tough choice naming his first X1 for the first match.
" While changes are inevitable as I want to give all players an opportunity to prove their worth, it will not be so drastic that it affects our performance," said Kim Swee.
" I need to look at variations in terms in players playing in different positions and see how best to maintain our style of play,
" With the players showing healthy competition, it augurs well for the team as a whole as we have depth on the bench, and that is a key ingredient in charting success."
