Heung-Min Son of the Korean national football team. Sports Donga DB
‘Son Sasational’ Heung-min Son (Tottenham) flashed, and Iran, which was like a stronghold, eventually collapsed. In the home match between Iran and Group A of the 2022 Qatar Asian Final Qualifier held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 24th, Son Heung-min scored the winning goal in extra time (47 minutes) in the first half, leading Korea to a 2-0 victory. Korea, which has secured 7 wins, 2 draws, and 23 points, has gained everything in the group, having secured entry to the finals for the 11th World Cup for the 10th time in a row early.
Most of all, it’s thrilling that I broke the tough bad relationship. Korea, which defeated Iran for the first time in 11 years and 8 games and recorded 10 wins, 10 draws, and 13 losses, also increased their home unbeaten streak to 20 games (16 wins, 4 draws). In addition, coach Paulo Bento (Portugal), who took the helm in the second half of 2018, won 28 (10 draws and 4 losses) in the 42nd A match, becoming the main character of the most wins in Korean history.
Son Heung-min’s ‘ace instinct’ wearing the captain’s armband stood out. In October of last year, he also started scoring against Tehran. He is the first player to score consecutive goals against Iran since Captain Park Ji-sung (retired) during the Asian final qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Park Ji-sung scored one goal each in an away game to Tehran in February 2009 and a home game in June.
Heung-Min Son also looks at the top scorer in this final qualifying round. Having scored two goals for Iran and one for Iraq and Syria, he is tied for the top scorer with Mehdi Taremi (Iran), Junya Ito (Japan) and Wurei (China). If he starts scoring again in the final match between the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the final qualifier (Game 10) to be held in Dubai on the 29th at 10:45 pm (Korean time), he can establish himself as the best goalkeeper in Asia. It is also the best scenario that ‘Bentuho’ draws to secure the first place in the group by adding 3 points with Heung-Min Son’s hot goal.
It is not uncommon for a Korean player to take the first place in scoring in the final qualifying rounds of the World Cup. Park Ji-sung and Lee Geun-ho (Daegu FC), who scored three goals each in the final qualifying round of the South Africa World Cup, tied for first place together with Javad Nekunam (Iran) and others.
In addition, if Son Heung-min, who scored 31 goals in 97 matches in the A-match, adds two goals in the UAE away match, he will be on par with Lee Dong-guk (retired, 33 goals), second in the history of Korean players in the A-match scoring list. The top scorer is former coach Cha Beom-geun with 58 goals.
Son Heung-min does not stand out simply because of his skills. His leadership has also matured further. A tearful, emotionally loyal young leader made the team even stronger. He takes care of his teammates and sometimes even encourages the audience, filling the ground with positive energy.
Son Heung-min, who has dedicated himself as the national team captain since Bento took office, said, “I want to lead the team as well as[Park]Ji-sung’s brother did well.” The leader of Korean football, which runs without stopping, is still hungry.
Reporter Jang-hyun Nam yoshike3@donga.com View more articles by reporter
