KUALA LUMPUR: National footballer La'Vere Corbin-Ong feels he is just a normal human with only "one heart and two lungs".
The conversation came about after Corbin-Ong and his teammate, Matthew Davies sparked online discussion of Malaysia players matching the famed boundless "energy" of former Manchester United midfielder Park Ji Sung.
The South Korean is nicknamed "Three Lungs" due to his remarkable endurance level that has seen him play in 134 matches for the 20-time English Premier League champions and scored 19 goals.
Corbin-Ong, 32, who is of Barbadian-Malaysian parentage, is called the "Tin Man" (from the Wonderful Wizard of Oz) by teammates.
It was the remarkable energy and hard running of the Malaysian team that wore down favourites Kyrgyzstan 4-3 in a World Cup qualifier last Thursday at Bukit Jalil as Corbin-Ong's team scored the winner in injury time.
Corbin-Ong praised Harimau Malaya co-captain Davies for his superb fitness.
"He has got to be one of the fittest players I know, this guy can run a lot," said Corbin-Ong at KLIA today before leaving for Taiwan.
"I'm trying to match Matthew's stamina, energy and do something to help the team," said Corbin-Ong.
Against Kyrgyzstan, Corbin-Ong and Davies were seen pushing upfield from their respective right-back and left-back positions to pressure the Central Asian team.
Corbin-Ong, who debuted for Malaysia in 2019, said: "I follow the coach's (Kim Pan Gon) instructions, it's different for every game. If it involves going up and down the pitch as much as possible then that's what we're going to do."
Corbin-Ong said Tuesday's World Cup qualifying Group D second game against Taiwan is winnable for Malaysia.
"I think the team know its quality and know that anything less than three points will be a letdown.
"Three points (from Tuesday's match) is achievable but it's not to say that Taiwan isn't a strong team but we're going with the attitude that we can win three points to bring back to Malaysia," said Corbin-Ong.
In the last five meeting between the two nations, world No. 137 Malaysia recorded only two wins and both of the matches were played at home. They lost all their three away matches against world No. 152 Taiwan.