If Son Heung-Min, most likely the only Asian to ever captain an English Premiership side, can lead Tottenham Hotspurs into beating Manchester United at the UEFA Europa League final, could Sergio Aguero, who was named captain of the ASEAN All-Stars, do the same at the Maybank Challenge Cup? 

And blow me down, he did! Manchester United was stunned. The All-Stars played with a composure that belied their name. First half, nil-nil. Impressive. Then, in the second half, United wheeled out their big guns: Bruno Fernandes and Alejandro Garnacho. But it was all utterly pointless, because right on the 70-minute mark, Maung Maung Lwin, the captain of Myanmar’s national team, unleashed a shot that sailed past United’s substitute keeper, Thomas Heaton.   

Naturally, this went down badly for those ‘noble’ United supporters. Some of these aristocrats, bless their silk underwear, started muttering about the match being “orchestrated”. Which, if you think about it for more than half a second, is a rather silly thing to say. Because if it was ever orchestrated, they’re effectively accusing their beloved United players of being involved in a match-fixing scandal. A scandal where they deliberately lost. And if it was “fixed,” why not make it a proper spectacle? A few more goals, a bit more drama? Much better for entertainment, surely.

Except it wasn’t. Because it was an honest game and the ASEAN All-Stars team were tactically superior. 

It’s strange isn’t it? Sergio was one of Malaysia’s representative in the team because he was not called up for the national team. Furthermore, we was appointed captain of a team that had only two days of training. He could have been driving around in circles all day, a miserable, anxious wreck. And yet, when the chips were down, when the pressure was on, he absolutely nailed it. 

And it’s not just Sergio, either. You see this sort of spirit, this sheer bloody-mindedness, in other professional athletes. Not all of them, but especially the para-athletes. They’re an absolutely different breed altogether. 

We all know what adrenaline can do. We’ve all heard stories, probably seen clips, of rugby players casually popping a dislocated shoulder back into place and carrying on. We’ve all read about soldiers, riddled with bullets, walking for miles to get back to base. And we’ve all experienced it ourselves: that uncanny ability to completely forget discomfort when there are more pressing matters at hand.

But imagine, if you will, if we could somehow wire ourselves up to summon that adrenaline-like benefit at will. To our emotional state, even. Depression? Gone. Anxiety? Gone. We could all be Sergio Aguero. We could all be John Rambo. 

That would be a breakthrough in human performance. Back in my competitive debating days, university debaters would try all sorts of things to get their heads in the game. Alcohol, usually. Some dabbled in marijuana. And the truly adventurous ones? Antidepressants. Because we all understood that your state of mind has an immediate, profound impact on your performance.

Sergio, by all accounts, is the only Malaysian footballer to ever lead a team to beat Manchester United. Legend. The question is, could he wilfully summon that Sergio we all saw that night, again? I bloody well hope so. Because I certainly enjoyed watching.