Son Heung-min

History

At the tender age of 16, he signed for Hamburg SV to play in the reserve team and in 2010 he made the jump to the Bundesliga with the first team. After three seasons with the club, his transfer to Bayer Leverkusen was made official on 13 June 2013. On 28 August 2015, his signing for Tottenham Hotspur became official. On 5 November 2017, against Crystal Palace, he scored his 20th Premier League goal and became the league's top scorer of Asian origin. He has played 127 matches for the South Korean national football team and scored 48 goals, competing in the World Cups in Brazil 2014, Russia 2018 and Qatar 2022, being eliminated in the group stage in the first two and in the round of 16 in the last, and the 2015 Asian Cup, in which they were runners-up, where he contributed with 3 goals and was included in the ideal team. In 2018, he was spared most of the military service he was due to undergo for 2 years by winning the Asian Games, which was reduced to 3 weeks. In early May 2020, he completed it, being among the top 5 of his class.

History

[Early years] He was born in Chuncheon, Gangwon. His father is Son Woong-jung, a former footballer who once played for the South Korean national football team. He came to the youth academy of FC Seoul, the same club where Korean right back Lee Young-pyo played.[12] When he was 7 years old, he was a fan of Manchester United where his idol Park Ji-sung played.[13] At the time, his role model was Lee Chung-yong, a player for Crystal Palace and Bolton Wanderers among others.[14][15] Aside from his native language, Son also speaks German and English fluently. His agent, Thies Bliemeister, said that Son was so determined to make it in Europe that he learned German by watching episodes of SpongeBob SquarePants.[16] [Hamburg SV] In August 2008, Son left Dongbuk High School to join Hamburger SV's German youth academy at the age of just 16,[17] thanks to the youth project of the Korean Football Association.[18][19] A year later, he returned to South Korea. After participating in the 2009 U-17 World Cup, he returned to stay permanently at Hamburger SV in November 2009.[20] He surprised everyone in the 2010–11 pre-season when he managed to score a total of nine goals, which led to him signing a professional contract as soon as he turned 18. [21] Initially he played for the club's reserve team while still being registered with the first team, but he only played a total of six games for Hamburg SV II. After two months out with a foot injury, Son returned to the pitch. On 30 October he scored his first Bundesliga goal against FC Cologne, becoming the youngest HSV player in the German football elite, thus surpassing a record held by Manfred Kaltz.

History

He signed a new contract that would bind him to the club until June 2014, the young Korean's goal was to become the new Cha Bum-kun, a historic former player of the Bundesliga and the South Korean national football team.[24] That campaign he played a total of 14 games with the first team, scoring 3 goals.[25] He had an excellent pre-season in 2011, scoring a total of 18 goals in nine games.[26][27][28] After missing the opening game with a fever, Son scored two goals in three games.[29] Mirroring last season, he injured his ankle in a 4–3 loss to FC Cologne which kept him out for six weeks;[30] however, he recovered quicker than expected and returned to action in a 1–0 loss to Borussia Monchengladbach on 17 September. Son made a total of 30 appearances, scoring five goals,[31] scoring crucial goals against Hannover 96 and 1. FC Nuremberg to secure Hamburger SV's Bundesliga stay.[32] Following the departures of Mladen Petrić to Fulham and Paolo Guerrero to Corinthians in the 2012–13 season, Son was handed a first-team regular by then-manager Thorsten Fink. It was Son's best season as he scored twice in a 4–1 away win against Borussia Dortmund on 9 February 2013 and was voted man of the match by Kicker Sportmagazin. [33] He scored twice in a 2–1 win against Mainz 05 on 14 April. He finished the season with 12 goals in 34 appearances, making him only the fourth Asian player to score 10+ goals in a major European league in the 2012–13 season.

History

[Bayer Leverkusen] On 13 June 2013, Bayer 04 Leverkusen announced the arrival of Son for €10 million, the club's most expensive signing at the time; the striker signed a five-year contract. [36] Son had a strong pre-season, scoring three goals in three games against TSV 1860 Munich, Udinese Calcio and KAS Eupen. [37] His first competitive goal for Bayer came in the first round of the German Cup against sixth-tier SV Lippstadt 08, where he also provided an assist in that game. Son opened the scoring in the opening league match against SC Freiburg thanks to an assist from teammate Sidney Sam, and a few days later he scored another goal in the second round of the German Cup thanks to an assist from teammate Lars Bender. His first hat-trick came on 9 November 2013 in a Bundesliga match against his former team Hamburger SV, in which he also provided an assist for Stefan Kießling. The final score was 5–3, making him the second Korean player to have scored a hat-trick in Europe after Sul Ki-hyun and the fourth Asian to do so. [38] Son was voted the player of the twelfth round of the Bundesliga. On 7 December 2013, Son scored a very important goal against Borussia Dortmund, which left the team just four points behind leaders Bayern Munich. He was sidelined for two weeks due to a muscle injury. Another of Son's best goals came against Borussia Monchengladbach from outside the box and assisted by Sidney Sam. On 10 May 2014, Son scored the goal against Werder Bremen that gave Bayer qualification to play in the 2014–15 UEFA Champions League.

History

Son finished the season scoring 12 goals in 43 official matches, again surpassing the ten-goal barrier for the second consecutive year.[40] Son also had a good start to the 2014–15 season. He scored the last goal in Bayer's win over SV Alemannia Waldalgesheim in one of Stefan Kießling's best games. He also played in both 2014–15 UEFA Champions League qualifying matches against FC Copenhagen, in which he came from behind to open a scoring rout that sealed qualification for the club. Son scored the second goal in the UEFA Champions League match against SL Benfica, and also provided an assist for team-mate Stefan Kießling before scoring. The match ended in a 3–1 victory for Bayer. Son was included in the UEFA Champions League Matchday 2 team-mate list. On 18 October, he scored two early goals against VfB Stuttgart and also provided an assist for team-mate Karim Bellarabi. The match ended in a 3–3 draw after a comeback by the home side in the second half. Son was again included in the starting eleven for Matchday 4 of the UEFA Champions League group stage, scoring both goals against Zenit St. Petersburg. On 14 February, he scored his second career hat-trick against VfL Wolfsburg in a 4–5 loss, with Bas Dost scoring four goals.[41] He scored his eleventh league goal against 1. FSV Mainz 05. Son finished the season scoring a total of 17 goals in 42 appearances.[42] Son started the 2015–16 season with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, making one Bundesliga appearance[43] and one UEFA Champions League qualifier.[44]

History

[Tottenham Hotspur] On 28 August 2015, his arrival at Tottenham Hotspur for €30 million was made official.[8]​[45]​ On July 20, 2018, he renewed his contract until June 30, 2023.[46] On 3 November 2019, he committed a foul on Everton FC player André Gomes. The Portuguese player broke his right ankle after a fall and clash with Serge Aurier, causing a very serious injury, which ended with the expulsion of the Korean, who left the field of play crying. Two days later the club decided to appeal the sanction as they considered it was not fair. Finally, the English Federation removed the red card.[47] On July 23, 2021, he renewed his contract again until June 30, 2025.[48] On 8 April 2023, he scored his hundredth Premier League goal, becoming the first Asian player in the competition's history to reach that milestone.[49]

Data

Full name Son Heung-min[1]​ Nickname(s) Sonny,[2]​ Sonaldo[3]​ Birth Chuncheon, South Korea July 8, 1992 (32 years old) Nationality(ies) South Korean Height 1.84 m (6′ 0″)[4]​ Weight 77 kg (169 lb) Sports race Sport Soccer Professional club Sporting debut 2010 (Hamburg SV II) Club Tottenham Hotspur FC League Premier League Position Forward Dorsal(s) 7 Club goals 212[4]​ National selection Selection Flag of South Korea South Korea Debut December 30, 2010 Dorsal(s) 7 Part. (goals) 127[5]​ (48[5]​) They speak Korean, English, German and some Spanish. He is a very respectful and well-educated person, he is never capable of hurting anyone on purpose, he is also a gentleman, somewhat shy and very affectionate. He also works hard, spending more hours than necessary training, he eats healthily and he really likes his career as a footballer and everything that it entails.