Qatar World Cup Final Qualifying Game 4
1-1 draw in Iran
| Son Heung-min celebrates after scoring the opening goal against Iran in the Asian final group A match of the 2022 World Cup held at Azadi Stadium in Tehran, Iran on the 12th (local time). [연합] |
Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur) scored the opening goal like a thousand gold at the away team’s grave, giving the Korean national football team a valuable point. Heung-Min Son, the ‘changed captain’, was able to finish two consecutive matches in the final qualifiers in October, which was an important gateway to qualifying for the 10th consecutive World Cup finals with 1 win and 1 draw.
Son Heung-min scored the opening goal in the third minute of the second half in the away match of Group A of the 2022 Qatar World Cup Asian final qualifier held at Azadi Stadium on the 12th (Korean time). It is the 29th goal in Son Heung-min’s 94th match A.
Although the national team, led by coach Paulo Bento, could not keep this goal to the end and gave up an equalizer in the 31st minute of the second half, they drew 1-1, but they succeeded in breaking Azadi’s third straight away defeat. It was also the first time in 12 years to score at this stadium after Park Ji-sung equalized (1-1 draw) in the final qualifier for the World Cup in South Africa in February 2009.
Korea Rep. Heung-Min Son’s opening goal scored 2 wins and 2 draws (8 points), keeping them in second place in the group behind Iran (3 wins, 1 draw, 10 points). Their record against Iran was 9 wins, 10 draws and 13 losses.
What is more welcome than the undefeated field trip to Iran is the transformation of Son Heung-min. It was transformed from an express assistant to a main character.
While Son Heung-min has shown outstanding goal-making power in his team, he has focused on the role of a helper in the national team. It was an unavoidable choice as the national team had no choice but to suffer from the opponent’s concentration check, unlike the team’s game where he played with world-class players such as Harry Kane. Heung-Min Son scored only 4 goals in 22 matches between the second leg of the final qualifier against Iraq last month after Bento took over as manager. Of these, two goals were scored from penalty kicks, and the last field goal was against Sri Lanka in October 2019.
Heung-Min Son was different. Son Heung-min scored the winning goal in the 44th minute in the second half of a 1-1 match against Syria in the third leg of the final qualifier on the 7th, and on the same day, he scored two goals in two consecutive games by operating the scoring against the difficult enemy Iran. Son Heung-min’s A-match field goal was the first in two years since the second qualifying round against Sri Lanka in October 2019, and his second consecutive goal in June 2018 is the first in over three years since the Russia World Cup final group stage match between Mexico and Germany.
After the game, Son Heung-min said, “It is helpful for my teammates to say things like ‘Hit!’ at the doorstep. He showed confidence, saying, “The final qualifiers aren’t over yet, and in a big way, we’re heading in a good direction.” reporter Jo Bum-ja
anju1015@heraldcorp.com
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