Even with a broken nose, Chanathip Songkrasin inspirational for BG Pathum United as always

SINGAPORE -- Widely regarded as the best Southeast Asian footballer of his generation, Chanathip Songkrasin garnered plenty of admirers over the years simply for his sheer ability.

With his immaculate touch, sublime skill and brilliant vision, the Thailand international's honours include three ASEAN Championship MVP awards and even being named in the J1 League Best XI in 2018.

But perhaps one of the 32-year-old's strongest attributes, that often goes under the radar due to the focus being on his talent, is his remarkable resilience.

Standing at just 1.58 metres, Chanathip's diminutive stature could easily have been a hindrance in him succeeding as an athlete.

Instead, he relished the ferocious tackles that were meant -- but failed -- to intimidate him. He simply bounced off them. When his legs were hacked at, he refused to go to ground and instead used his superior balance to keep dribbling past a foul that should have halted his progress. Rather than being a flaw, his height gave him a low centre of gravity that made him nearly impossible to dispossess.

On Thursday, this oft-underappreciated resolve he possesses once again came to the fore -- and it went a long way in helping BG Pathum United come from behind to earn a 1-1 draw at Lion City Sailors in the opening game of their AFC Champions League Two campaign.

Just two days earlier, in BGPU's first training session after touching down in Singapore, Chanathip suffered a broken nose following an accidental clash with a teammate.

Having initially been slated for prematch news conference duties, Chanathip's withdrawal initially looked a sign that he might not be passed fit for the match.

Yet, when the lineups were announced an hour before kickoff, his name was the standout in the BGPU starting XI. And as captain no less, with regular skipper Sarach Yooyen on the bench.

Donning a transparent protective mask, Chanathip was immediately in the thick of things although it was the Sailors who would draw first blood through a Marko Nikolić own-goal in the 24th minute.

One half of football was enough for Chanathip to decide that he did not want to carry on with the added insurance of facial protection. It was affecting his ability to perform at his best.

Without the mask, but now at risk of aggravating the injury, Chanathip needed just six minutes of the second period to create BGPU's equaliser - finding space on the edge of the box and feinting to shoot before playing a trademark slide-rule pass for Patrik Gustavsson to latch onto and finish.

The Thailand captain was then extremely unlucky not to put his side in front in the 57th minute, when his dancing feet created enough space inside the box for him to send a ferocious left-footed effort off the bar with Sailors goalkeeper Victor Aznar beaten all ends up.

Ultimately, with neither side able to find a winner, both were left having to settle for a share of the spoils. And, while the visitors created enough chances to perhaps feel like they would have been deserving of the three points, they might not even have had one were it not for the genius and fortitude of their talisman.

Speaking exclusively to ESPN after the match, Chanathip humorously revealed that he had asked the opposition to kindly avoid hitting his face if they could help it -- which he feels they sportingly abided to.

"I told the other team -- some players in the Sailors -- 'don't hit me again'!" he said, with a hearty laugh.

"I went to the hospital [after the injury] and had a CT scan [which showed] I had a little bit of a fracture. But it was okay. I wanted to play. I could play.

"The vision wasn't clear [with the mask]. It was okay. But when I [took it off] it was very, very good for my vision.

"And it was good spirit from Sailors [with the] 'don't hit me again' [request]. Thank you so much."

Given the regularity that players in Southeast Asia often come up against one another, both at club and international level, Chanathip is familiar with his Singaporean counterparts almost to a point where they are friendly off the pitch.

Of course, given numerous Singapore internationals have also gone on to ply their trade in Thai League 1 in recent times, Chanathip also counts Ilhan Fandi, who he came up against on Thursday, the latter's older brothers Irfan and Ikhsan, as well as another new Sailors signing in Ryhan Stewart, as former teammates at BGPU.

When asked about coming up against some familiar faces, as well as being informed that Ilhan had spoken glowingly about him, Chanathip was quick to praise the strides made by Singaporean football over the past few years.

"I think I've played against them [Singaporean players] a lot -- and I've said I'm 'scared' of Singapore [football]," he explained. "Because the structure now is very, very good, when they play [with their] systems.

"Even Tampines [Rovers], Sailors and the [Singapore] national team -- I think they've improved a lot. Hariss [Harun] is the legend. And there are many other players like Song [Ui-Young].

"But I'm really happy when I see Ilhan. Whenever he scores, I always text him because when I played with him in BG, I like him because he's like my little brother. Also Irfan, Ikhsan and also Ryhan, I'm happy [to see them].

"I think it's good because [our time in] football is short and [everything comes back in a] circle."

While Chanathip was gracious enough to acknowledge the improvement of his rivals, he remains fully focused in adding more success to his already-glittering career.

Having been unavailable for the recent ASEAN Championship -- where a youthful Thailand outfit did admirably well to reach the final before losing to Vietnam -- Chanathip will likely be integral to the War Elephants' prospects at next January's AFC Asian Cup.

BGPU are also on the hunt to become Thai League 1 champions for the first time since 2020-21, as they once again aim to end the dominance of Buriram United -- who have won the past five titles.

Then, there is the ACL Two offering the prospect continental glory.

BGPU only need to look at the Sailors to see how an unfancied team from Southeast Asia can make history, following the Singapore Premier League side's heroic charge to the final two seasons ago.

First, they will need to build on Thursday's opening draw and progress out of a group that also includes A-League Men outfit Adelaide United and Hong Kong's Tai Po.

"Today, we got one point [to bring] back [to Thailand] -- I think it's good for us," Chanathip added. "I think it's good [the way] we fought until the end.

"I cannot [say for certain] we will become the champions. But I can promise we will do our best in every game.

"Now we have many games. Against the Australian team, Hong Kong team and Singapore team. Every game is a tough game, so we will prepare when it's time to play against [each of] them."