SINGAPORE -- On Thursday night, two teams with a perfect record thus far in the 2025-26 AFC Champions League Two campaign will face off at Bishan Stadium.
For one of them, it has hardly been a surprise.
As three-time champions of Asia, and having featured in the AFC's premier club competition just last season, South Korean powerhouses Pohang Steelers were always expected to be among the frontrunners in the second-tier tournament.
The other, however, has been quite the surprise package.
After beginning with an expected-but-still creditable 3-0 win away to Kaya FC-Iloilo, BG Tampines Rovers raised plenty of eyebrows last time out when they recorded a 2-1 triumph over Thai League 1 outfit BG Pathum United -- who were widely expected to be Group H's second-strongest team behind Pohang.
With Tampines flying high and eyeing another upset on home soil, Pohang will be looking to burst their bubble on Thursday and -- in the process -- avoid suffering a humbling defeat of their own.
The most experienced man in the Pohang camp is no stranger to the continental stage.
An AFC Champions League Elite winner with Ulsan HD in 2020, Kim In-Sung has largely been kept in reserve in the ACL Two so far this season -- making two substitute appearances as coach Park Tae-Ha strives to keep him as fresh as possible for the business end of their domestic season.
But with Tampines already proving quite a tough nut to crack, there is every chance Pohang may have to call upon their veteran winger to unlock the Singapore Premier League upstarts.
In a parallel universe, that could already have happened -- and on numerous occasions.
When fellow SPL outfit Lion City Sailors pulled off a real coup back in 2021 by securing the services of Kim Do-Hoon -- the man who led Ulsan to their last continental triumph -- he revealed to ESPN that a handful of his star players were keen on following him to Singapore, even namedropping Kim In-Sung and Yoon Bit-Garam.
On the eve of Pohang's meeting with Tampines, ESPN got the chance to seek clarification from the man himself as to how close that move actually came to fruition.
"I thought a lot about joining Lion City Sailors," Kim In-Sung told ESPN in an exclusive interview.
"I asked around a lot about Singapore, as a country, and Lion City Sailors, as a team. I heard a lot of good things about both. That's why I wanted to come.
"But when Lion City Sailors called, it was a little bit too late because I was already about to sign for another team in Korea [Seoul E-Land].
"In the end, I decided to stay in Korea because there was challenge of helping a K League 2 team get to K League 1. I decided that was the challenge for me."
In the grander scheme of things, it may not have been the biggest sliding-doors moment but there still is the thought of what might have been -- had some of the biggest names in the K League, widely regarded as one of Asia's strongest domestic competitions, suddenly participated in a mass migration to Singapore.
Instead, while Kim In-Sung never achieved promotion with E-Land, he did eventually find his way back to the top flight when Pohang came calling in 2023.
He was since won back-to-back Korean FA Cups with Pohang, including scoring the crucial go-ahead goal in last year's 3-1 extra-time victory over former side Ulsan in the final, which helped secure their ACL Two berth.
Kim In-Sung believes that a team of Pohang's stature should be featuring at the highest level, although he is content with making their mark in the second tier this term.
He is adamant that they must get a result against Tampines on Thursday, a sentiment that his coach also shared in his pre-match news conference.
"This match is very important because Tampines are actually above us on the table [due to superior goal difference]," said Park. "That's why we have to prepare well.
"We achieved good results in the last two games. Our purpose is to come here and get the three points.
"This match is very important for us to change the table. Our first goal is to reach the round of 16 by finishing in first position in the group.
"For this, we must do our best tomorrow."