Son under pressure to save S. Korea
SAINT PETERSBURG: South Korea’s Son Heung-min is bearing the weight of expectation at the World Cup just as heavily as Mohamed Salah, Cristiano Ronaldo and Harry Kane.
Even Lionel Messi, whose bid to add a World Cup to his career collection has become something of a communal objective for football, enjoys the support of a star- studded Argentinian side, from Angel Di Maria to Javier Mascherano to Sergio Aguero.
For Son and South Korea, the pressure is shared in the kind of unequal measure that perhaps only Salah would know with Egypt, before his own tournament was hampered by injury.
South Korea are teetering on the brink too, after a 1- 0 defeat by Sweden left them needing at least a draw, and probably a win, against Mexico on Saturday to keep any hopes of progressing from Group F alive.
Son blamed himself for the opening loss. “I’m still disappointed about my performance,” he said. “I feel very, very sorry for my teammates because if we don’t score, it’s my fault, because I need to take the responsibility.”
Responsibility is one take, pressure another. Son is a star in his home country, to the extent he has to wear a disguise when he leaves the house and Korean journalists are employed in London, where they wait to speak to the forward after every Tottenham fi xture in the Premier League.
But for all the attention he receives, the 25-year- old, who moved to Germany when he was 16 and made his name at Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen, is humble, driven and immensely popular with his team-mates.
He still lives in Barnet with his parents. His father, Son Woongjung, is a former striker himself,
I’m still disappointed about my performance. I feel very, very sorry for my team-mates because if we don’t score, it’s my fault, because I need to take the responsibility.
AFP Sport takes a look at some of the stories you may have missed at the World Cup: - Not going home yet -
Germany’s Sami Khedira gave a cool response to an attempt at provocation from a Swedish journalist ahead of Saturday’s vital game between the teams in Sochi. The journalist, from a Swedish tabloid, tried to wind up Khedira by offering him fake airline tickets for the German side to return to Berlin on Saturday evening, in the event the World Cup holders lose to the Scandinavian side and find themselves eliminated early from the tournament. The Juventus midfielder politely refused the offer, saying: “I think we’ll need them on July 16.” That’s the day after the final...
- ‘This is much bigger than football’ -
Iceland were to play Nigeria on Friday, but it did not prevent them paying tribute to Super Eagles goalkeeper Carl Ikeme, who couldn’t make it to the World Cup after being diagnosed with leukaemia. The whole squad signed an Iceland goalkeeper’s jersey with “Ikeme” and the number 1 emblazoned on it and striker Jon Dadi Bodvarsson posted a picture of it on Instagram with the caption “All of us in @ footballiceland are with you @carlikeme”.
- White nights -
Saint Petersburg’s white nights of near 24-hour daylight have been causing some difficulties for the Brazilian and Costa Rica players ahead of their match on Friday. “It’s a little hard for us because we are not used to this kind of situation,” said Brazil skipper Thiago Silva. “Last night we arrived whose professional career was cut short by injury.
Tottenham’s training ground, based nearby in Enfield, has housed Korean chefs, invited in by Son in the hope of ingratiating his team-mates to bulgogi (barbecued beef), japchae (stir-fried noodles) and Samgyetang (a type of chicken soup).
But for Spurs, Son plays behind Kane, and alongside Dele Alli and Christian Eriksen. He is a key player, but not the star.
“It is true that maybe he doesn’t get the headlines of Harry Kane and other players but it is good to recognise him,” Tottenham coach Mauricio Pochettino said.
“It’s like a player next to [ Lionel] Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo that also deserves a lot of credit.
“When you are next to Harry Kane, who scores and scores, it is normal that the focus is more on Harry Kane or on Messi or Ronaldo than on Son.
“But all the team love him. Not only because of his performances but because of how he is as a man. He is so humble and such a normal guy, and that makes him bigger.”
Son certainly does not feel disappointments any less. In fact, those that know him well say he takes defeats harder than anyone.
He sat on the pitch and bawled his eyes out when South Korea lost to Honduras in the quarter-fi nals
South Korea’s Son Heung-min
late then had some physio. About 0130 in the morning it was getting light, Fabio ( Mahseredjian - team physio) said we should turn off the iPad, iPhone so we could get some sleep. Talking to the family in Brazil this is going to give us a sleeping problem.” Costa Rica captain Bryan Ruiz wasn’t so perturbed, saying: “It’s strange but it’s nice to have this kind of situation. We have to close the curtains around 1030 otherwise we cannot sleep. It’s something nice, it’s different but something you are thankful to live.”
- A bad bet -
Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo explained the growing stubble on his chin was the result of a bet with team-mate Ricardo Quaresma. “My new beard? That was a joke with Quaresma,” he told the man- of-the-match of the 2016 Olympics in Brazil, a result that could still have repercussions for Son’s future.
As is the law in South Korea, he owes 21 months of military service and is due to begin his stint before he turns 28.
There is precedent for successful footbal lers being g ranted exemption, as was the case in 2002, when the national team reached interview after the win over Morocco. “We were in the sauna and I started shaving my beard. I left a bit and said that if I scored against Spain, I wouldn’t shave it until the end of the World Cup. In the end it brought luck, I scored, as I did today. So, I’m going to keep it.”
- ‘Kante has 15 lungs’ -
Paul Pogba paid tribute to fellow midfielder N’Golo Kante after France sealed their place in the World Cup last 16 on Thursday, saying: “He has 15 lungs.” France beat Peru 1- 0 to roll into the knockout stages. Kante was omnipresent as he mopped up in front of his overworked back four. “We were all very good, all together. But with NG ( Kante) also it’s easier, he runs everywhere, he has 15 lungs,” joked Pogba. the World Cup semi- finals, and 2014, when they won the Asian Games.
Son missed out four years ago as Bayer Leverkusen refused to release him and there may be a similar dilemma for Tottenham to confront when the same tournament runs again in Indonesia in August.
For now, though, South Korea need Son to deliver in Rostov against Mexico, the team that have inflicted the shock of the World Cup so far by beating Germany.
The pressure is on Son to step up. “When he plays for the national team, the opposition focuses on defending against Son Heung-min,” South Korea’s coach Shin Tae-yong said last month. — AFP