Malaysia coach Ong Kim Swee attributed his half-time team talk to a turnaround victory as his side overcame New Caledonia 2-1 in their second Oceania tour match in the territory's capital of Noumea on Wednesday.
Jean-Philippe Saiko gave the Pacific nation the lead in the 20th minute, but Malaysia turned the tide after the break as Amirul Hadi Zainal levelled proceedings in the 48th minute before Baddrol Bakhtiar's free kick six minutes later secured the win.
The incident-filled game also saw both sides reduced to 10 men and Malaysia winger Zaquan Adha taken to hospital after suffering a broken wrist.
The result will, however, come as huge relief for Malaysia, who were heavily criticised after they lost 2-0 to the lower ranked Papua-New Guinea last week.
"I told the players at the break that we needed to be more aggressive going forward, and they responded positively with both the goals. Our determination in the second half made the difference," said Ong, who lamented the quality of refereeing by Mederic Lacour after the sending off of Azrif Nasrulhaq and Georges Bearune in the final eight minutes.
"There was a lot of debatable decisions, with many incidents that should not have warranted a card. This is a lesson for us to learn to control the game when the official sometimes provokes these unnecessary decisions."
The 45-year-old coach also admitted that his opponents provided stiff competition, despite their FIFA ranking being 20 spots below Malaysia.
He said: "Papua, New Caledonia and Fiji players are not only physically built, they are also fast. We have to learn to adapt to their style of play."
Papua are 193rd in the world while New Caledonia are 183rd and Fiji are three places back.
Harimau Malaysia will wrap up their Oceania tour on June 26 against Fiji, a country more popular for its massive rugby following than football.
The three friendlies were organised to help Malaysia prepare for the biennial Suzuki Cup in November.
The Malaysians have also made the final phase qualifiers of the Asian Cup next year after they beat Timor-Leste 6-0 in a two-legged playoff on June 2 and 6.