Son becoming indispensable for Spurs, ‘inspiring’ Dortmund win

LONDON, Feb 14, (AP): Son Heungmin has every reason to be constantly smiling, and Tottenham has many reasons to be thankful.

For a footballer so understated, so seemingly undemanding, the forward has become indispensable for Tottenham.

Borussia Dortmund was reminded of that in the Champions League on Wednesday night, when Son scored the opener to spark a 3-0 victory in the last-16 first leg. It was Son’s ninth goal in 11 games against Dortmund, including his time in Germany playing for Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen.

In his fourth season at Tottenham, the 26-year-old South Korean has emerged as one of English football’s most influential players. In the 13 games Son has scored this season, Tottenham has gone on to win.

“Next time when Son scores, I go to the dressing room and shower,” Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino joked, “and wait for the game to finish.”

There was little for Pochettino to laugh about a month ago when topscorer Harry Kane damaged ligaments in his left ankles. But Son is helping to dispel suggestions Tottenham is overly reliant on Kane, inspiring this commanding lead over Dortmund that was secured by late goals from Jan Vertonghen and Fernando Llorente.

Son’s contribution – 11 goals in his last 12 games – is even more remarkable considering he started the season at the Asian Games and took a couple of weeks out in January to go to the Asian Cup with South Korea.

“Son is a player that of course has a lot of quality and is a very talented player,” Pochettino said. “But he is always available to learn, improve and listen to what you expect from him. He is capable of adapting the quality in different situations.”

He proved that right at the start of the second half after Tottenham had been run ragged in the opening 45 minutes and was on the back foot after an error-strewn performance.

In the dressing room, Pochettino got the video clips out during the break.

“We showed a few actions defensively and positions in the offensive situations,” Pochettino said.