KUALA LUMPUR: Thailand are the only Southeast Asian team to record a win in the ongoing Asian Cup, and that is thanks to a Malaysian connection.
World No. 113 Thailand stunned No. 98 Kyrgyzstan 2-0 in their group opener on Tuesday with two goals from Supachai Jaided, whose Muslim family is of Thai-Malay descent.
Super striker Supachai was born in Pattani, Southern Thailand, bordering Malaysia.
Thailand had also previously relied on several players of Malay ancestry like Adul Lahsoh, Nurul Sriyankem, Elias Dollah and Sompong Soleb in their national teams.
Ironically, Malaysia looked far and wide to get players from across the world, but only to suffer an embarrassing 4-0 loss to Jordan in their group opener. Eight of Malaysia's 26-man team in Doha are foreign-born.
Seriously, naturalising super Supachai from across the border, might have been better for Malaysia.