‘Son’ rises for South Korea with hopes of ending 64-year-old drought of AFC Asian Cup

It is 2011. South Korea has drawn 2-2 with Japan in the AFC Asian Cup semifinal. An air of tense trepidation surrounds Qatar as both sides take spot-kicks. Japan scores thrice in its four attempts while Korea fails to convert a single opportunity.

In a few moments, the game is done and dusted. The Taeguk Warriors sink to the ground, with an 18-year-old weeping profusely at the Thani bin Jassim Stadium. His and the country’s continental dreams are shattered. Korea is out.

Thirteen years later, on a cold Friday night in the same country, that youngster, now a Premier League star with the captain’s armband on him, stood with the score 1-1 in a quarterfinal. Korea – playing 30 kilometres off that field where it was knocked out by Japan – had got a free-kick against Australia just outside the penalty box.

He placed the ball, looked up and then lashed in a right-footed curler which rattled the net after a touch off Mathew Ryan. Australia one, South Korea two.

When the full-time whistle blew, he dropped to the ground again – his eyes, full of tears. But this time, he stood on the other side of the cruel game, known otherwise as football.

Son Heung Min, the talisman who left Qatar as a boy in 2011, proved to be THE man in 2024, to rescue his side and steer it to the semifinals. He earned a penalty, three minutes into the second half injury time, which was converted by Hwang Hee-Chan and then netted the winner.

“He was having difficulty in keeping his opponent’s movements in check initially (in the tournament). Perhaps due to the pressure on him, he has not been able to leave a solid impact like Tottenham matches,” Do-Yong Kim, a Korean journalist from Doha, told  Sportstar.

“But tonight, he proved to be an ace by playing a decisive role in the match. Now I can see why he is attracting a lot of fans’ attention at this tournament.”

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The goal was iconic in a number of ways. In the 2015 Asian Cup final, Son forced the match into extra-time with a stoppage-time equaliser and his team went on to lose the match 1-2 in extra-time. The opponent – Australia. Their coach? Ange Postecoglou, his current club manager.

Like Father, like ‘Son’

Son’s winner in the last moment brought flashes of a rather low-profile game played 40 years ago between Myongji University and Sangmu FC (now known as Gimcheon Sangmu FC) at the President’s Cup National Football Tournament.

Trailing 0-2 at one point, Myongji made a comeback, winning the match 3-2. The scorer of the winning goal – Son Woong-Jung, the father of the current Tottenham and Korean skipper.

Though Woong-Jung could play only till the second team of South Korea, it was under his tutelage that Son grew up to arguably become the best player in Asia.

“When I was 10 or 12, he came in to coach my school team and we were training, 15 or 20 players. The programme was for us all to keep the balls up for 40 minutes,” Son told The Guardian.

“When someone dropped the ball, my father would not say anything. But as soon as I dropped it, he made us all start over from the beginning. The players understood, because I was his son and, yeah, it was tough. But when you think about it now, this was the right way.”

Son went on to shine at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, scoring three goals and taking his side to the quarterfinals. Eventually, Europe came calling.

The forward moved to Hamburg, honing his attacking skills with Dutch great Ruud Van Nistelrooy. But it was at Tottenham Hotspur that he became a star – a figure beyond the stature of Cha Bum-kun and Park Ji-Sung, both being legends in their own right.

In over eight years, he has become the highest Asian goalscorer in the Premier League and the Champions League, has won the Premier League Golden Boot as the only Asian footballer and has more assists than any Tottenham player in the club’s history. 

Tottenham became ‘Son’s team’ in Korea and not the other way around.

“He is like David Beckham. Men and women of all ages like him,” Do-Yong said, “Thanks to Son, Tottenham has become a popular club in Korea. Expectations are high always for him in the national team games.”

The quest of first major international trophy

Despite individual accolades, Son’s quest for success with the national team remains elusive. His three World Cup appearances yielded only a single Round of 16 berth in 2022. The Asian Cup hasn’t been much kinder, with the closest achievement being a runners-up finish in 2015 when the Socceroos sealed the title.

But at 31, with the next Asian Cup potentially marking his twilight, this edition carries immense weight. It’s the perfect opportunity for the gifted forward to clinch the title which has eluded his country for over six decades.

Inspired by Lionel Messi’s World Cup triumph in Qatar, Son, with three goals scored, two penalties earned and eight chances created, looks to try his luck on the same promised land to get his hands on the AFC Asian Cup.

And he, like Messi, has the whole team fired up with the same agenda.

“Everyone in the locker room and people back home are waiting for us to win this tournament. We have not won it for the last 64 years,” Lee Kang-In said. “We are hungry and motivated for the tournament. All of us, the coach, the players and the entire staff.”

The ‘Son’ has risen beyond South Korea. And the Asian Cup, with his worldies, is now shining brighter in his light.