There is a certain pressure that comes with taking charge of the most successful team in the history of Southeast Asian football.
Even more so when it was a hastily-made appointment just three months out from the region's premier international tournament after the abrupt departure of predecessor Akira Nishino, following a disappointing FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign for Thailand.
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But for Alexandre Polking -- the man currently in the War Elephants hotseat -- he is not only living up to expectations but relishing the opportunity of what he describes as a "dream job".
Ahead of their final Group A game of AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 against Singapore on Saturday, the Thais are already through to the semifinals after racking up three straight victories, maintaining their record of having reached the last four in every edition of the competition since 2012.
Polking, who has spent almost the entirety of his senior coaching career in Thailand, was part of the War Elephants' backroom staff in 2012 as an assistant under then-coach Winfried Schafer.
And while it is still early days in what both he and Thailand -- the Suzuki Cup's record five-time champions -- are hoping will be a long and successful union, the Brazilian-German could not be more pleased with how things are going at the moment.
"It's already been an amazing journey. This has always been a dream job for me - to be in charge of the national team of the country that welcomed me when I first started my coaching career," Polking told ESPN.
"Of course, knowing a lot of these players having coached in Thailand for eight years, I'm very, very happy to be where I am.
"Knowing we have the quality to win the Suzuki Cup is very exciting and the response of the players makes me very happy. Normally, you need months at a club to get players to play the way you want them to, but they've achieved that so quickly.
"We still have a lot of things to correct but the players have been outstanding in the way they've bought into our ideas. It's one of the biggest satisfactions as a coach."
Polking has taken charge of a Thailand side that are still widely regarded as a supremely-talented outfit, boasting star names like Chanathip Songkrasin, Theerathon Bunmathan and Teerasil Dangda, but also one that has been overtaken by current Suzuki Cup champions Vietnam as the top dogs of Southeast Asia in recent times.
And for all the positives the War Elephants have shown at the tournament so far, their coach is aware success -- especially in a country with a rich footballing history like Thailand -- could be the only judgment of his tenure.
"We know that in football you are always judged by results," Polking added.
"We have achieved our minimum target of reaching the semifinals so the feeling is good for the moment. But we also know that, if we want this journey to be the very best, we have to win all the way and get that cup back to Thailand."