KUALA LUMPUR: What do five-time world champions Brazil, four-time African champions Ghana, and 2010 AFF Cup champions Malaysia have in common?
The shared similarity is that all three teams have successfully scored at least three goals against South Korea over the past five years.
Starting from 2019, South Korea have faced Brazil three times, once against Ghana, and most recently against Malaysia at the Asian Cup in Doha.
In the three meetings against the Selecao, the Koreans, currently coached by German Jurgen Klinsmann, conceded 12 goals while only managing to score two.
In a friendly match in 2019, Brazil ran away 3-0 winners, and another friendly in 2022, thrashed the Taeguk Warriors 5-1.
In the second round of the 2022 World Cup, Korea were once again outclassed by the mighty Brazilians, as they crashed out after suffering a 4-1 defeat.
In the same campaign in Qatar, Ghana defeated Korea 3-2 in the group stage; though the defeat did not prevent South Korea from advancing to the knockout stage.
Meanwhile, world No. 130 Malaysia became the third team to successfully score at least three goals against a Korean side, which boasts the likes of Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min, Bayern Munich's Kim Min-jae, Paris Saint-Germain's Lee Kang-in, in the past five years.
Malaysia, led by South Korean coach Kim Pan Gon, achieved this in the final group stage match of the Asian Cup on Jan 25, when they came back from 3-2 down to secure a dramatic draw in the dying minutes of the match.