KUALA LUMPUR: When Ong Kim Swee talks about how to play South Korea, people sit up and listen.
After all, he famously masterminded Malaysia's shock 2-1 win over South Korea (with Safawi Rasid scoring a brace) at the 2018 Asian Games.
Kim Swee revealed that when his side faced mighty South Korea then, he told the players to hold on to the belief that nothing is impossible.
"Whenever we play against strong opponents, I always tell the players that nothing is impossible, especially if we put our heads in the right frame of mind and focus on our responsibilities, work as a team and fight," he said.
Members of that 2018 squad who are now with the national team in Doha for the Asian Cup are Dominic Tan, Syahmi Safari, Akhyar Rasid, Safawi, Faisal Halim, Matthew Davies, Syihan Hazmi and Syamer Kutty Abba.
And from the Korean side of 2018, those selected for the Doha Asian Cup are Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung Min, Hwang In Beom, Jo Heyon Woo, Song Bum Keun, Kim Min Jae and Hwang Hee Chan.
World No. l30 Malaysia, making a return to the Asian Cup on merit after 42 years, will play No. 87 Jordan on Jan 15, No. 86 Bahrain on Jan 20 and No. 23 South Korea on Jan 25 in Group E.