A TEAM of football-loving students from Malaysia are in a quandary as to who they will support when Newcastle United takes part in the FA Premier League Asia Cup, which kicks off today.

The Malaysians, who are studying at Newcastle University, regularly play in five and six-a-side inter-university matches, and are such big fans of the Magpies that they have adopted the team's famous black and white kit as their own.

Ahmad Aslam Kamarudin, Huzaimi Kassim, Amir Fazly Nazri and Helmy Haja-Mydin grew up in Malaysia supporting their national team.

But they say they haven't decided whether they want Newcastle or Malaysia to win the tournament.

Ahmad, who is studying for an MSc in mechanical engineering, said: "Most of us will still be in England for the tournament, so we'll be watching it on television.

"We'll be supporting both Newcastle and Malaysia in their first round matches. But if Newcastle meet Malaysia in the next stage, we really won't know which team to cheer on. We will all have divided loyalties."

Huzaimi, who is studying English, said one of the reasons he came to Newcastle was for the football.

"I've been crazy about football since I was young," he said. "I used to have a book by Malcolm MacDonald, one of Newcastle's best ever strikers, about how to shoot."

The students are all members of the Malaysian Society at the university and have named their team after it - Newcastle University Malaysian Society FC.

Newcastle play Birmingham in the first round of the Asia Cup. Tomorrow, Malaysia play Chelsea. The losers of the two matches have a play-off on Saturday and the winners contest the final on Sunday.