IF you want to know more about Sea Games football, look no further than Ong Kim Swee.
He had guided the national team in the last five editions of the biennial games, from 2011 to 2019, winning the gold and silver medals respectively in 2011 and 2017.
Kim Swee said the Sea Games are still prestigious to many Malaysian fans though the event is not even an international Tier 1 competition.
For the Hanoi Sea Games, Kim Swee, 51, has picked Thailand, defending champions Vietnam and Indonesia as the favourites.
As for Malaysia, he said the underdogs could spring an upset.
"The expectations are high in the Sea Games... everyone says that the Sea Games are not important until their national team don't do well.
"When the national team underperform, they get slammed by everyone, because it's a matter of pride and prestige, said Kim Swee, who now coaches Sabah.
"Winning the Sea Games football gold is better than becoming the overall Sea Games champions... football is that big in the region.
"This is something very unique in Southeast Asia.
"You can see everyone taking the competition seriously this time with the teams having extensive training for the Sea Games.
Vietnam seem to have the best preparation, while Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia had a problem with players not being released by their clubs."
Kim Swee pointed out that having the best players doesn't always translate into success as proper training is the key.
He pointed out that in 2019, Malaysia fielded three over-aged players in a team of mostly under-19 players, but their short preparation resulted in a disjointed team and an early exit.
He lauded national Under-23 coach Brad Maloney's decision to not include any over-aged players for the Sea Games to better prepare for the Under-23 Asian Cup in June.