In nine previous official meetings dating back to 2007, Philippines have never beaten Thailand.
In fact, they had lost seven and only avoided defeat on two occasions.
That did not, however, stop them from believing they could notch a maiden victory on Friday evening -- in the high-stakes encounter of an ASEAN Championship semifinal.
And in a thrilling first leg at Rizal Memorial Stadium that delivered plenty of thrills and spills, a dramatic late twist saw Philippines do just that -- as a last-gasp winner by Kike Linares handed them a famous 2-1 victory, one that remarkably puts them in the driving seat to reach their first-ever final in Southeast Asia's premier international tournament.
Philippines had already been daring to dream after 44 minutes.
Nonetheless, with the inevitable Thai response seeing Suphanan Bureerat cancelling out Sandro Reyes' stunning opener, it initially looked as though both sides would have to settle for a share of the spoils heading into Monday's return encounter in Bangkok.
Philippines had other ideas.
In the fifth minute of injury-time, Linares would pop up with a dramatic headed goal to spark wild celebrations among the majority of the 7,116 in attendance -- which only went up several notches once the final whistle blew moments later.
There is still half the job to be done. Thailand are certainly not out of it just yet -- far from it.
It will be their turn to have home advantage in the second leg, and they also happen to be the tournament's defending champions and record seven-time winners.
Somehow, though, it is Philippines who have one foot in the final.
And they have their brave sense of adventure, when they could easily have been overawed by the occasion or the opposition, to thank for that.
From the opening whistle, they were looking to take the game to their more-illustrious opponents.
They pressed high rather than sit back. When they were in possession, they immediately looked for the same joy down the wings they had found for much of the group stage.
And when the breakthrough arrived, it was no surprise that it came through their wonderkid Reyes, who had initially started the move with a probing pass out right to Alex Monis.
With no real avenue into the area, Monis retreated but the ball eventually broke to Reyes, who -- with not much appearing to be on -- effortlessly shifted the ball onto his left foot before unleashing a brilliant effort into the top corner.
Still, Thailand are the region's most-successful team for a reason. Even without a host of regular stars, they continue to boast stellar talent.
Their key names would combine to produce an equaliser right before halftime.
Straight on the counterattack from a Philippines corner, Suphanat Mueanta would lead the charge before picking the right option in shifting play out wide to the overlapping Patrik Gustavsson, whose inch-perfect ball into the box was calmly swept home at the back post by a rampaging Suphanan.
The timing of Thailand's goal meant the wind was now in their sails.
Just two minutes after the restart, a mistake by Michael Kempter almost allowed Suphanat to fire the visitors ahead but -- after he had calmly waited for the opportune moment as a bevy of defenders attempted to put in a block -- he could only watch on in agony as his thunderous drive crashed off the bar.
As the game wore on, the Thais looked the likelier of the two teams to win it.
Eight minutes from time, a probing ball into the area by Suphanan was flicked on by Teerasak Poephimai into the path of Akarapong Pumwisat, who was only denied after Quincy Kammeraad -- deputising for the injured Patrick Deyto -- charged off his line well to make a point-blank range save, with a follow-up effort from Worachit Kanitsribampen trickling agonisingly wide of the far post.
Into injury-time, Thailand captain Peeradon Chamratsamee was next to threaten but his speculative snapshot from the edge of the box was once again the wrong side of the same upright.
After soaking up immense pressure for most of the second half, Philippines would win a freekick just inside the opposition area right at the death -- with the tie entering its 95th minute.
Playing for the draw was the wise move that likely would have been employed by any team other than this adventurous Philippines outfit with no shortage of belief.
Right at that stoppage, they chose to make two late attacking substitutions in Uriel Dalapo and Javier Mariona. Perhaps just to inject some fresh energy to cope with any further Thailand forward forays rather than to actually go for the winner?
The freekick was sent straight into the box by Zico Bailey. Ghosting in at the far post, Paul Tabinas would nod it back across the face of goal.
And, amid a sea of players, Linares would show the greatest determination -- no, desperation -- to get to the ball first, sending a diving header into the back of the net to snatch what will go down as one of the most-famous victories in the history of Philippine football.
The magnitude of the result was not lost on Reyes, who admitted that Philippines have had to endure some tough times even as recently as the group stage, where they drew three consecutive games and only booked their place in the last four with a hard-fought 1-0 final-day win over Indonesia.
"There are no words," he said, when asked to describe his feelings immediately after the game. "The team gave everything.
"We had a really strong first half. We made a pretty bad mistake [to concede] at the end of the first half when we were dominating the game and then we struggled in the whole of the second half.
"But we stayed together and showed the character of the team -- and then we finished it off at the end. We went through hell in the group stage -- so much adversity.
[To score such a goal] is more than I could dream of. My entire family is here. A full Rizal Memorial Stadium against Thailand in a semifinal -- there's nothing else I can say."
Man-of-the-hour Linares was quick to shift his focus to the second leg, but did agree it was a fine way to open his international account.
"My first goal with the national team -- today is a special night for me," said the Spanish-born defender who happens to ply his trade in Thai League 1 with Lamphun Warriors.
"We suffered so much in the second half but we followed the plan of the coach and we made history with our people [present]. I'm so proud of the team.
"We know the second game is coming. We have two days to prepare and we need to be ready to try and take [another] result against Thailand."