Son Heung-min, a South Korean soccer player now playing with English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, is the best player in Asia.
By
Adi Prinantyo
·5 minutes read
ACTION IMAGES VIA REUTERS/PAUL CHILDS
Son Heung-min
Son Heung-min, a South Korean soccer player now playing with English Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, is the best player in Asia. Son was listed among the world’s 100 best soccer players in the January edition of FourFourTwo soccer magazine. The other 99 players came from continents with established soccer standings like Europe, the Americas and Africa.
FourFourTwo (FFT) wrote, “Somehow, Son is still underrated. In 2019, he stepped up in (Tottenham Hotspur striker) Harry Kane’s absence, plundering 20 goals across the campaign even as his international commitments stacked up”. It was a paragraph in FFT describing the capability of Son.
For Asian players, it’s not an easy matter to be among the 100 best soccer players of FFT. Understandably, this popular branch of sports remains dominated by stars of European and South American origin. Prior to Son, only a few Asian stars were included in FFT’s ranking of 100 best players.
One of them was Japanese soccer player Keisuke Honda, who was selected in February 2011.
FFT’s recognition of Son is reasonable in view of the small number of Asian soccer players capable of maintaining a good career with the English League and other Europan leagues. In Britain, Park Ji-sung first became a legend with Manchester United (2005-2012). Besides Park, there was left back Lee Young-pyo in Tottenham Hotspur (2005-2008).
Later, Asian soccer players were rarely found in Europe’s elite leagues. Perhaps only Yuto Nagatomo, Inter Milan’s left back, who was outstanding in the Italian League (2011-2018), or Shinji Kagawa, who played with MU (2012- 2014).
REUTERS/ANDREW BOYERS
Son Heung-min
Cha Bum-kun’s reincarnation
What about Son? He has proven his quality since he was recruited by Hamburger SV, a German club (2010-2013). In his initial period in Hamburg, some German soccer observers regarded Son as a reincarnation of Cha Bum-kun, South Korea’s legendary footballer who was engaged in the German League (1978-1989), when Asian players were very rarely “acknowledged” in Europe.
It didn’t take a long time for Son to display his quality in Hamburg. In his third season, 2011-2012, Son impressively scored 18 goals only in nine matches. Until the 2012-2013 season as his last one, the player born in Chuncheon on 8 July 1992 created 20 goals for Hamburg in 73 matches. In the last season he contributed 12 goals and became the first Asia footballer to produce two-digit goals in Europe.
His action was carried on in Bayer Leverkusen with a transfer rate of 10 million euro or around Rp180 billion in June 2013. His adaptation was quite fast by making some achievements seldom realized by Asian footballers. Son completed his devotion in Leverkusen with a total of 21 goals in 62 matches.
It was a new transfer record for an Asian player in Europe. The previous record was held by Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan), who was recruit at the value of 25 million euro from AS Roma to Parma.
His brilliant feats in the German League attracted the management of Tottenham Hotspur. He officially joined “The Lilywhites” on 28 August 2015 with a transfer rate of 30 million euro (about Rp540 billion). It was a new transfer record for an Asian player in Europe. The previous record was held by Hidetoshi Nakata (Japan), who was recruit at the value of 25 million euro from AS Roma to Parma.
After the first season that wasn’t so impressive in 2015-2016, Son got frustrated and intended to leave Spurs. When he revealed what he had in mind to then Spurs coach Mauricio Pochettino, Son was just given a lot more opportunity to appear.
The confidence was promptly returned by giving goal after goal. He successively scored two goals in one game, when he convincingly trounced Stoke City 4-0 on 10 September 2016 and defeated Middlesbrough 2-1 on 24 September 2016. His productivity has made Son the first Asian footballer scoring more than 50 goal in the English League.
Equally adept
The endowment of the 27-year-old player lies in both his legs that are adept at dealing powerful and accurate kicks. He can be positioned as a second striker, wing striker, genuine striker, sometimes midfield attack. “It doesn’t bother me where I play. The main thing is that I’m involved,” said Son as quoted by the German media, Hamburger Morgenpost.
An appreciation of Son’s competence came from his team mate in Spurs, Jan Vertonghen. In the eyes of Vertonghen, Son was indeed frequently underrated. One possible reason was his Asian origin, the third world country in soccer. In fact, said the back player from Belgium, Son wasn’t egoistic when playing, and he was convinced that his peer was one of the best strikers in the English League.
Then his quality, outstanding left foot, right foot,” Vertonghen told The Independent in October 2019.
“I have played with some great players and against some great players, and Sonny (Son Heung-min) is special, he is so humble and I think you underestimate that because of the work he puts in. Then his quality, outstanding left foot, right foot,” Vertonghen told The Independent in October 2019.
Son’s explosive movement and his ability to take a position have also become his plus points. He is known for his precision in seizing vacant spaces in the opponents’ playing areas. His ball control is accurate and his execution to the opponents’ goal posts is lethal.
His field achievements have earned him many prestigious awards as well as world class award nominations. He was named the Asian Best Player five times, which were in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018 and 2019. He was nominated for Ballon d’Or 2019 and the best player of Tottenham Hotspur 2018-2019. Never forget that he also brought the South Korean team a soccer gold medal in the Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games 2018.
With his humble character, the South Korean public and world soccer enthusiasts are waiting for the next actions of the new legend of “Ginseng Country”, Son Heung-min.
