KUALA LUMPUR: Since South Korea announced their Asian Cup squad on Thursday, the focus of the media has been very much on Kim Pan Gon, the Korean helming Harimau Malaya.
At the other end, South Korea are coached by a foreigner, a German in Jurgen Klinsmann.
Ironically, Malaysia are banking on Korean expertise in the dandy K-pop-ish Pan Gon.
How will Pan Gon deal with his native nation who enter the pitch as the enemies?
And he faces a mighty side that is packed with Europe-based stars.
How will Malaysia fend off Korean stars like Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung Min, Paris Saint-Germain's Lee Kang In, Wolverhampton Wanderers' Hwang Hee Chan and VfB Stuttgart's Jeong Woo Yyeong? The media wonder what is on Pan Gon's mind.
Pan Gon, 54, is indeed intrinsic to Korean football as he was also a former Korea FA vice president. So, apart from being a proven coach, he is also a capable administrator.
Pan Gon said it is not only about overcoming world No. 23 South Korea but for Harimau to produce something that Malaysians can be proud of.
"It's about Malaysia being able to compete with the best teams on the continent," said Pan Gon in an interview with Fifa.com.
"The fact that we're able to compete against some of the world's best players is pretty good for me.
"It's hard for us to beat a top-seeded side, but j it's just going up against them is the best motivation.
"Not just South Korea, it's Bahrain (world No. 86) and Jordan (87), who are much stronger than us.
"However, we are aiming to win at least one of the matches to make Malaysian fans happy. The goal is to reach the round of 16."
Pan Gon guided Malaysia to nine wins in 13 games this year, and the team topped their World Cup Group D Qualifier with wins against Kyrgyzstan (4-3) and Taiwan (1-0) last month.
Since his arrival in January last year, Pan Gon has overseen Malaysia's rise to world No. 130 — the highest since its 124th ranking in 2006.
Now, Pan Gon said he wishes to see Malaysia breach the world's top 100 rankings.
"It would be nice to win the other two of the four remaining World Cup qualifiers (Oman on March 21 and March 26). If we can make it to the third round, that would bring a lot of joy to Malaysians," said Pan Gon.
"I want to make big strides in football development in Malaysia. In the long term, I want to see the national team in the top 100 of the Fifa rankings."