Son Heung-min, 19-year-old first appearance, 4th attempt, became EPL scorer, but has little chance of winning
Son Heung-min (top) of the Korean national soccer team is aiming to win the Asian Cup in his fourth attempt, and Lee Kang-in is aiming to win the Asian Cup in his first attempt.
Korean soccer, which is attempting to win the Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years, is only two steps away from reaching the top. Korea will play the Asian Cup semifinals against Jordan at 00:00 on the 7th in Al Rayyan, Qatar. If they win this game, they will advance to the Asian Cup finals for the first time in 9 years since the 2015 tournament in Australia. Korea's last Asian Cup victory was in 1960, which was held at home. 안전 토토사이트
Any member of the Korean national team hopes to reach the top of the Asian Cup, but Captain Son Heung-min (Tottenham)'s desire to win is especially special. For Son Heung-min, this is his fourth Asian Cup. Son Heung-min, who was the youngest member of the national team in the 2011 tournament when he first participated at the age of 19, has now become the leader of the team wearing the captain's armband. Considering his age of 32 this year, this may be his last Asian Cup.
Son Heung-min scored his international debut goal in the Asian Cup. It was against India in the group stage of the 2011 tournament. By participating in the quarterfinals against Australia in this tournament, he also set a new record for the most appearances by a Korean player in the Asian Cup (17 games). Son Heung-min, who is tied for third place in scoring with three goals in this tournament, increased his total Asian Cup goals to seven.
However, Son Heung-min has no experience winning the Asian Cup yet. In his first appearance, he came in 3rd place in 2011 and runner-up in 2015. In 2019, his third attempt, he stopped in the quarterfinals. Although he is a 'world class' player who was the top scorer in the English Premier League (EPL), the world's highest level club soccer stage, he is far from a 'winner career' where he lifts the championship trophy. In the 2008 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Championship, where he participated as a member of the under-16 national team, he finished second. At the 2009 FIFA Under-17 World Cup, they were eliminated in the quarterfinals. His team, Tottenham, finished second in the UEFA Champions League in the 2018-2019 season and the English Football League Cup in the 2020-2021 season.
Son Heung-min won a gold medal at the 2018 Jakarta-Palembang Asian Games, where he participated as a wild card. However, the Asian Games are a comprehensive competition, so they are different from major competitions organized by FIFA or AFC. This is why coach Jurgen Klinsmann, who leads the Korean national team, said of Son Heung-min, “No matter how famous a player is, he must win a trophy to be recognized as a true world class player.”
If Son Heung-min is challenging the '4 out of 3' championship ceremony, 'Shooter' Lee Kang-in (Paris Saint-Germain) is aiming for the so-called 'Royal Road' of winning the Asian Cup in his first appearance. Lee Kang-in led Korea to second place in the 2019 FIFA Under-20 World Cup and was selected as the tournament's Most Valuable Player (MVP), but he still does not have a major championship trophy. Lee Kang-in also won a gold medal at the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
Lee Kang-in is also tied for third place in scoring with Son Heung-min with three goals in this tournament. Among the Klinsmann-ho Taegeuk warriors, Son Heung-min ranks first in playing time in this Asian Cup match, and Kang-in Lee ranks second. Son Heung-min started as a starter in all five games, including the three group stage games and the round of 16 and quarterfinals in overtime, and was never substituted. He played 510 minutes, all excluding extra time. Lee Kang-in, who also appeared as a starter in all five games, played 509 minutes, one minute less than Son Heung-min. Both athletes are determined to leave the final step at the top of this competition. 토토사이트