He was a member of the Australian squad that made the AFC Asian Cup final four years ago. But as the 2015 edition gets ready to kick off in his homeland, defender Jonathan McKain is dealing with the aftermath of crippling Malaysian floods as he begins a two-year contract with Super League (MSL) club, Kelantan FA.
His arrival in Kota Bharu coincided with monsoonal rainfalls that led to more than 200,000 Malaysians being displaced from their homes. The north-eastern state of Kelantan, near the Thailand border, was one of the worst affected areas.
McKain's condo was spared, but several Kelantan training sessions and a pre-season match were cancelled.
"It's been a bit of a crazy start to my time here," McKain told ESPN FC. "The whole town was flooded, stadium included, and so many families have lost their houses and valuables. It's really been terrible and I feel for the people who have been affected."
The opening games of the Asian Cup will barely register on the sporting radar across Malaysia and not just because of the floods. No Southeast Asian team qualified for the 16-nation tournament which begins on Friday.
Some might see McKain's move to Malaysia as a surprising step for a man who played five seasons in Europe, captained Adelaide United in the A-League, appeared at the 2004 Olympics and matched up against Michael Ballack and Bastian Schweinsteiger at the 2005 Confederations Cup. In all, he played 20 times for his country.
"I had a chance to stay in the A-League and a couple of very attractive offers from Iran and Thailand, but Kelantan felt right straight away," he said. "Making a trip to meet the club president and coach made my decision a lot easier. I felt a good connection with the manager and his new age coaching ideas, which really appealed to me."
Kelantan's head coach is former Dutch international George Boateng, who played for more than a decade in the English Premier League for clubs like Aston Villa and Hull City. In his first full year in charge, Boateng is hoping to improve on last season's disappointing sixth-place finish in the MSL. The Red Warriors are a big and successful club with a huge fan base who will demand success after a trophy-less 2014.
"I would love to make this team successful again," McKain said. "Last year was the first time in a while [they won the Malaysia FA Cup in 2013] that the club didn't win any trophies. We all want this to change."
The arrival of 32-year-old McKain -- with another Socceroo defender Robert Cornthwaite joining Selangor -- proves that Malaysia is becoming a more attractive destination for high quality imports. The Sarawak pair of Ryan Griffiths (Australia) and Billy Mehmet (Republic of Ireland U-21) are other former internationals from the A-League who will ply their trade in the Southeast Asian nation this season.
"Everything from the language, culture, weather and style of football is different and the challenge appealed to me," McKain said. "Financially it is also more attractive than it is in Australia."
Brisbane-born McKain isn't one to blink an eyelid when it comes to delving into unfamiliar cultures. As a little-known 20-year-old, he had a chance meeting with a Romanian agent that led to a two-year contract with National Bucharest, managed by former Italy goalkeeper Walter Zenga. McKain would then spend another three seasons with FC Politehnica, inadvertently creating a pathway for several other Australians to play in Romania's Liga 1.
In 2010-2011, Zenga signed him again, bringing him to Saudi Arabia for a $1.5 million deal with Al Nassr.
"Romania was a great experience and Zenga and [former Romanian international and renowned coach] Cosmin Olariou helped me out a lot," he said. "I was very close to joining Portsmouth in the English Premier League at one point. But as I hadn't played the required national team games, it turned into one of those what-could-have-been moments."
His international appearances were restricted by the presence of established defenders such as Lucas Neill, Tony Popovic and Craig Moore. Indeed, his first dozen caps were earned as a central midfielder, including the 2005 Confederations Cup where host nation Germany and Argentina -- boasting the likes of Juan Roman Riquelme and Javier Saviola -- were among his opponents.
Guus Hiddink didn't pick him for Australia's breakthrough 2006 World Cup.
At the 2011 Asian Cup final, he sat on the Socceroo bench at Doha's Khalifa International Stadium as Australia lost to Japan in extra-time. But he believes that the current squad is capable of going a step further on home soil this month.
"Although the recent results haven't been good, the current players have had exposure to the style of coach Ange Postecoglou for a while now. Now is the time to perform. I am confident that they can perform well at home and win the tournament."
In the men's football competition at the 2004 Olympics, McKain saw first-hand how dangerous Asian opposition can be. With Cahill, Moore and John Aloisi in the squad, Australia negotiated a difficult group that included eventual champions Argentina. But then they fell to a shock 1-0 quarterfinal defeat to Iraq, who would go on to claim fourth spot.
"We had 24 shots on goal to two and to this day I still don't know how we lost that game against Iraq," McKain said. "That's a tournament that I always look back at with disappointment."
McKain will be keeping an eye on his former international teammates in the Asian Cup as he gets back to preseason training, despite the post-flood clean up in Kota Bharu. With a football resume like his, he knows the impatient Kelantan fans will be expecting big things when the MSL season gets underway at the end of the month just as the Asian Cup draws to a close.