| Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min warms up before the Premier League match against Norwich in Carrow Road stadium, Norwich, U.K., Sunday. Reuters-Yonhap |
By John Duerden
Last week I found myself walking into Tottenham Hotspur's magnificent training ground right on the edge of North London. It was an unseasonably hot mid-May day and the blue skies and sun just made the training fields look greener and the whole complex more impressive. Next door to the Stables, I had a chance to talk to Son Heung-min and present him with the Best Footballer in Asia award.
This has been going on since 2013 when TITAN sports of China first asked journalists all over Asia to vote for the best Asian player, and I was honored this year when they asked me if I could go to London and give the Tottenham star the heavy trophy. I mistakenly said that he had won it five times previously but the 29-year-old was quick to correct me and say that he had won it six times and this was number seven.
"It's something I've always dreamed of," Son said. "You know, I can't believe it because it's always in my head as a dream. This award, for me, means so much. For my country as well and for my family. It's a big honor."
Talk naturally turned to the World Cup. Korea has been drawn with Portugal, Ghana and Uruguay. In Son's previous two appearances in 2014 and 2018, the Taeguk Warriors failed to progress past the group stage.
"Look, it will be hard but nothing is impossible. I don't want to be negative because I'm the captain of this country so I need to be positive. I can't say 'yes, we're going to do it' but this is my dream, to have a really successful World Cup because this is my third World Cup. The first one and the second one were not really, really successful and I learnt so many things. Now I'm the captain of this team so I really wish that we can do better than the previous two World Cups," Son said.
"I want to do well in the World Cup, but obviously we have a tough group and in the World Cup there is no easy group. It's like a big festival, every country is enjoying this moment, but we need to prepare really well because we have tough opponents. I believe that our coach is really good, the players have great talent and I hope they show all they have, then I think we can have a great World Cup."
Son has been one of the stars of the European football this season, scoring 23 goals in the English Premier League to finish as joint top scorer along with Mohamed Salah of Liverpool.
According to leading soccer data analysts Driblab, the quality of Son's chances this season mean that he should have scored less than 11 goals. Even more impressive is that Salah has scored five goals from the penalty spot, while Son has scored none from the spot.
The Spanish-based stats company also revealed that in terms of assists created, in terms of both quantity and quality ― dribbles and runs into dangerous areas, Son's statistics are right up there with the very best.
A good week for the player personally ended with Spurs qualifying for next season's UEFA Champions League where Son will be able to test himself once more against the best teams in Europe. The next few months are looking very big indeed but they will have to be something special to be better than the last few.