Chanathip Songkrasin easily has a case to being the best Southeast Asian footballer of his generation.
He is a three-time ASEAN Championship winner with Thailand in 2014, 2016 and 2020. In each of those triumphs, he was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
He was the first Thai player to feature in the top flight of Japanese football -- regarded by many as Asia's strongest domestic competition -- and even played for four-time J1 League champions Kawasaki Frontale.
When Thai football was making its rise on the continental scene, Chanathip was at the forefront of it all -- either when starring for Muangthong United as they chartered new territory in the AFC Champions League or by inspiring the national team to a first AFC Asian Cup knockout round appearance in 2019.
He hasn't always had it his way though.
Injuries have hampered his career, including that dream move to Frontale which he earned after shining brightly with Consadole Sapporo. After his struggles at Kawasaki, he would move back to the Thai League 1 when he joined BG Pathum United back in 2023.
Since then, there has been less fanfare surrounding the pint-sized maestro.
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He was absent from Thailand's last three major tournaments: the 2022 and 2024 ASEAN Championships, as well as the 2023 Asian Cup.
His presence has not automatically translated to success for BGPU. They have had to settle for fourth and third-place finishes in the league since his arrival, although they did lift the League Cup in 2023-24.
But on Wednesday, as BGPU began their ASEAN Club Championship -- officially the 2025-26 Shopee Cup -- campaign, Chanathip gave a timely reminder that his brilliance in undeniable.
Up against last season's runners-up Công An Hà Nội, the odds were firmly stacked against the hosts when they were already trailing to Alan Grafite's 20th-minute opener before being reduced to ten men before halftime -- when Matheus Fornazari was shown a straight red after a high boot caught Bùi Hoàng Việt Anh square in the face.
The decision seemed slightly harsh given Fornazari had eyes for the ball but it left the hosts with a mountain to climb.
Enter Chanathip at the start of the second half.
Suddenly, the numerical deficit seemed to have evened up given the 31-year-old was drawing multiple opponents to him every time he had the ball.
BGPU still found themselves under pressure more often than not, with goalkeeper Slaviša Bogdanović eventually finishing the game with a whopping 11 saves. Yet, each time they had possession, they looked like they might threaten purely because it was Chanathip leading the charge.
An equaliser duly arrived two minutes before the hour mark.
As he received the ball from Jaroensak Wonggorn just inside the area, Chanathip immediately shifted the ball onto his left foot to create a better shooting angle.
He continued to move the ball closer to a central position but there was still a defender right in his face. Somehow, when the far corner looked the likeliest route to goal, Chanathip proceeded to lash a ferocious left-footed drive the other way -- completely catching Filip Nguyen by surprise as he was beaten at this near post virtually before he even knew.
To marvel at such an effort being scored with a non-preferred foot would perhaps not do enough justice to the Thai genius. He does not have a weaker foot.
But he does have a dominant foot: his right. It is the one he primarily uses for all those mazy dribbles, as well as when he is on set-piece and penalty-kick duties.
And it was with that foot where he produced the latest jaw-dropping highlight of an extensive catalogue.
With the game into the 7th minute of added time, BGPU were probably happy to settle for a draw given they had played over a half a man down.
As he always does, Chanathip is ever-alert in the event there is an attacking opportunity.
He was situated just inside the opposition half when a ball forward by Filip, well outside his area, was intercepted and headed towards the BGPU talisman.
Taking the ball into his stride while pivoting his stance towards goal in one fluid movement, Chanathip would then proceed to send a glorious 40-yard lob hanging in the air.
It is testament to both players that Filip had actually raced back fast enough to actually be in a position to make the save and, yet, the effort was so perfectly weighted that it was enough to clear the Vietnam goalkeeper's despairing dive and yet dip just under the bar.
The hush of anticipation that was soon followed by screams of delight, even before the ball had nestled into the back of the net, could only be elicited by one man.
Perhaps the most poignant image that followed was that of CAHN coach Alexandré Pölking, whose simple reaction to that moment of magic -- and despair, for him and his side -- was to squat in his technical area with his back to the field of play, drinking from a bottle of water with a vacant gaze, almost in disbelief.
But Pölking definitely believes. After all, he was the tactician who masterminded Thailand's most-recent ASEAN Championship success. He has enjoyed firsthand being able to utilise the genius of Chanathip.
Being aware of his former protégé's mercurial ability is one thing. Being able to stop is, as Pölking is now even more aware of, is a completely different matter.
Once a teenage prodigy who evolved into the finest Southeast Asian player of his generation, Chanathip may now be in the autumn of a glorious career.
At every stage, as he continued to prove on Thursday, he remains undeniably brilliant.