South Koreans are immensely proud of the sports stars representing their country, but the love and adoration for soccer’s Son Heung-Min is something else. Son is regarded as one of Asia’s greatest soccer players of all time and is the player who put South Korea onto soccer’s map. Unsurprisingly, Son received the Cheongnyong Medal in 2022, the highest order of merit for achievements in sports given to a South Korean citizen.
Son was born in Chuncheon, Gangwon, in July 1992. Playing soccer was in Son’s blood because his father, Son Woong-jung, once played for the South Korea National B team and enjoyed a managerial career. Son joined the FC Seoulacademy as a child and quickly gained a reputation for his speed, finishing, ability to link play, and two-footedness.
Moving from South Korea to Germany
As a 16-year-old, Son joined Hamburger SV’s youth team in Germany through the Korean FA Youth Project. Hamburger SV is one of Germany’s oldest clubs and is famous for nurturing young talent. Back then, Hamburger SV played in the Bundesliga, Germany’s top-tier competition, and people who had read a Bovada review online flocked to bet on Son making it to the very top of “the beautiful game.”
Son shone brightly for the youth team and was given his first taste of professional soccer shortly before his 18th birthday. He made 78 first-team appearances, scoring 20 goals and providing three assists.
Twice Breaking a Transfer Record
Son’s performances caught the eye of other Bundesliga teams, and on June 13, 2013, Bayer Leverkusen offered Hamburger SV a reported €10 million for Son’s signature. The offer was accepted, and Son became a player for Die Werkself.
He marked his arrival with a hat trick a couple of months into the season, and he instantly became a fan favorite due to his natural ability to score goals and create chances for his teammates. Son only spent two seasons with Leverkusen, appearing in 87 games, scoring 29 goals, and assisting 11 others.
By now, the South Korean star’s performances were catching the eye of top European clubs; they clambered over one another to secure Son’s services. Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League beat everyone to Son’s signature, and the London-based club agreed to pay Leverkusen £22 million (€30 million), making Son the most expensive Asian playerin soccer history.
The 2015-16 Premier League season was difficult for Son. Despite Tottenham finishing third in the table, Son struggled to adapt to the pace and physicality of the Premier League; he finished the campaign with only four goals and one assist from 28 appearances.
Before the start of the 2016-17 season, Son reportedly asked then-manager Mauricio Pochettino for permission to leave Tottenham because he wanted more first-team action. However, Pochettino refused and asked Son to fight for his place in the team’s starting XI, and he did.
Son was phenomenal in the Premier League and started almost every game. Son played 34 Premier League games that season, finishing with a career-best 14 goals and eight assists. Son also scored six goals and one assist in the FA Cup and scored once in six UEFA Champions League fixtures.
Son had gone from a bit-part player to one of the first names written on the team sheet in the space of a few months. He bamboozled opposing defenders by being able to dribble while sprinting and terrified opponents with his ability to create chances seemingly out of nothing.
By now, Son had forged an excellent partnership on the field with England captain Harry Kane, often providing assists for the talismanic striker. During the 2020-21 season, Son recorded 17 goals and ten assists, the most he scored in a single season. Amazingly, Son bettered those figures in 2021-22, playing 35 games, assisting nine, and finding the back of the net 23 times.
Including the current campaign, Son has played 395 games for Tottenham, scoring 157 goals and assisting another 86; the man is supremely talented.
A Star on the International Stage
It is not only at club level that Son has a reputation for being a superstar because he manages to perform at the highest level while representing the South Korean National Team, too. Son made his international debut in December 2010 at the age of 18. Since that day, Son has appeared in the famous South Korean colors 123 times and has scored 44 important international goals.
Son is currently ranked sixth in appearances for South Korea; he is only 14 games away from breaking the long-standing record that the legendary Cha Bum-kun set between 1972 and 1986. His 44 international goals are the third-most of any South Korean. If he scores 15 more goals for South Korea, he will also surpass Cah Bum-kun in that statistic. Son is 31, so he still has plenty of time to become number one in South Korea appearances and goals.
Son prefers to keep his personal life private and is rarely spoken or written about outside of soccer match reports. Although he likes to keep a low profile, adoring fans often mob Son whenever he returns to South Korea, with hundreds of people greeting him at the airport.
Son is single, although he has dated K-pop singers Yoo So-young and Bang Min-ah.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when soccer in the United Kingdom was suspended, Son completed his basic military training. Son was exempted from military service after securing a gold medal at the Asian Games. He finished in the top five of 157 trainees with the Republic of Korea Marine Corps in Jeju, which shows Son’s dedication and commitment to his country.
Lastly, Son is a charitable soul who has not forgotten his roots. For example, he donated £100,000 to the victims of the Goseong Fire in 2019 and another £65,000 worth of aid to help the COVID-19 pandemic in South Korea. Son also footed most of the £11 million bill for building the Son Football Academy in Chuncheon, designed to create more South Korean superstars.