SINGAPORE -- Myo Hlaing Win quite possibly remains Myanmar's greatest footballer of all time.
Even though he has long since hung up his boots, with a new generation of star strikers such as Kyaw Ko Ko and Aung Thu since emerging, his accomplishments remain unsurpassed.
His tally of 36 international goals -- from just 63 caps -- is a long way from being bettered, with the closest active challenger being Kyaw Ko Ko -- on 16 but already at the age of 31.
Myo Hlaing Win remains the only player from Myanmar to have been the top scorer at an ASEAN Championship -- with a four-goal haul back in 1998.
Now, almost two decades since he called time on his playing career, he faces a far different challenge.
Having worked his way up the domestic club football scene as a coach, Myo Hlaing Win was handed the senior national team job back in September.
It marks the first time a local has been given the nod in a permanent capacity since 2010.
In addition to his legendary status, it is understandable why there is a huge spotlight on what he goes on to achieve henceforth.
It was not too long ago that Myanmar were among Southeast Asia's elite -- having been semifinalists at the 2016 ASEAN Championship, as well as achieving three consecutive top-four finishes at the Southeast Asian Games which included a silver medal in 2015.
That second-place finish came in Singapore, which will be the same venue where Myo Hlaing Win will look to continue Myanmar's resurgence on Thursday -- in a warmup friendly ahead of this year's ASEAN Championship, which kicks off on Dec. 8.
Through off-field factors, including the coronavirus pandemic and then domestic protests against a government coup d'état, Burmese football is no longer where it once was -- and few expect they will pose a challenge at the region's premier club competition.
Still, with a healthy number of players garnering valuable experience plying their trade abroad in countries like Thailand and Malaysia, Myo Hlaing Win believes they can spring a surprise -- starting with Singapore on Thursday.
"I hope our players will show something tomorrow," he said in Wednesday's prematch news conference. "I believe they will.
"Singapore are a good team with a good coach. I know some of their players are absent but they are still a strong team.
"The Mitsubishi Electric Cup (ASEAN Championship) is on the horizon. We have two games to see how our players perform and prepare accordingly.
"Tomorrow, we will try to play our football."
Myo Hlaing Win also appeared slightly embarrassed when reminded by ESPN about his iconic status as a player, but did not seem bothered on whether it would be additional pressure on his role as coach.
And even though Myanmar face some tough challenges in Group B of the ASEAN Championship against regional powerhouses Indonesia and Vietnam, he did not shy away from setting brave targets.
"My time as a player is finished already," he added. "As you might know, being a coach is very difficult. We've now just had two months in charge of the team.
"For the Mitsubishi Electric Cup, our first game is against Indonesia. We then have another test against Vietnam.
"But never mind. We will try in every match to win."
One of the players Myo Hlaing Win is likely to be heavily reliant on is captain Maung Maung Lwin, now an ASEAN Championship veteran despite still being only 29 and having plied his trade in the highly-competitive Thai League for the past three and a half seasons.
Like his coach, Maung Maung Lwin prefers to be respectful but not fearful of any opposition they might come against, stating: "Tomorrow's match will be very helpful for both teams because we're preparing for the Mitsubishi Electric Cup.
"The coach is already teaching us the strengths and weaknesses of Singapore. Now it's about our application.
"Let's see what happens. We will know more after tomorrow's match but I'm confident."