SONNY DISPOSITION
Son Heung-min, the Premier League’s top goal scorer in 2021, is looking to lead South Korea out of the group stage for the first time since ’10 and have a grand time doing it
BEFORE TOTTENHAM Hotspur began its preseason tour through his native South Korea, star forward Son Heung-min went all out in obtaining welcome presents to give to his teammates upon their arrival. For four straight days he feted them with designer sunglasses and other swag donated by his lineup of global sponsors, in addition to personally purchased items like ornately decorated sets of chopsticks and spoons. “The expectations and pressure only got higher,” Son says. “I didn’t give anything after the fourth day, so the players were coming to me, asking, ‘Any more gifts?’ ”
Son, who turned 30 just before the tour kicked off, didn’t mind the razzing. “I think nobody in Europe really knew about South Korea. People [were] not really interested,” Son says of his experience 14 years ago, when he first left home in the Gangwon province to join Hamburg’s youth academy in Germany. Showing fellow Spurs players around Seoul and elsewhere this summer, however, he was pleasantly surprised by their eagerness to consume his culture—and not just when he treated the whole roster to Korean barbecue. “They are always asking so many questions,” he says. “This makes me really proud.”
Clearly the country’s screaming legions of Son lovers, hundreds of whom assembled near baggage claim at Incheon Airport in anticipation of Tottenham’s arrival, feel the same about their national team captain for the upcoming 2022 World Cup. According to one projection, more than 12 million people in South Korea, out of a total population of roughly 51 million, count themselves as Spurs supporters. And that is without mentioning the expats who trek to Tottenham Hotspur Stadium during the Premier League calendar. “The lads,” Son says, as in his teammates, “even when we play home games, they see all the Korean flags, they joke, ‘Was it you buying all the tickets for the Korean fans?’ ”
Between his impeccable timing, effortless dribbling and breathtaking twofooted finishing—the ultrarare combination of which last season helped him make history as the first Asian winner of the Premier League Golden Boot, netting 23 goals to share the award with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah—son is more than worth the price of admission based on skill set alone. (Not for nothing, tickets to Tottenham’s exhibition match against players from the local K League were reportedly being scalped for as much as $3,000.) But the man nicknamed Sonny has also become one of soccer’s hottest draws because of his eternally cloudless disposition: In summer 2021, Tottenham’s official Facebook account posted a 34-second video titled, “The best of Heung-min Son laughing.” It now has nearly 750,000 views.
Asked in a recent interview to describe the importance of joy in his game, Son goes back to the beginning. “I need to laugh, I need to be happy, because without love you