South Korean star Son Heung-min grabbed a brace in front of an adoring crowd, as Tottenham Hotspur defeated Team K League 4-3 in a preseason match in Seoul on Wednesday.
It was a neat homecoming for Son, captain of both Spurs and the South Korean national team, and one of the most beloved athletes in his native land.
With the Premier League side up 1-0 on Dejan Kulusevski’s 28th-minute goal, Son scored his first goal in the 38th minute at Seoul World Cup Stadium. The forward put on his patented move from the left wing, cutting toward the center and firing a right-footed shot to the top right-hand corner.
Then during stoppage time, Son teamed up with Kulusevski and barreled into the area before finding the bottom corner for a 3-0 Spurs lead.
The starting XI for Team K League, voted on by fans, didn’t put up much of a fight in the first half. Head coach Park Tae-ha then changed the entire lineup after the restart, and the reserves asserted themselves into the match in the second half.
Team K League dodged
a bullet in the 50th minute when Emerson Royal’s header struck the crossbar, and then the home team scored two minutes later.
Stanislav Iljutcenko tapped home the loose ball after goalkeeper Brandon Austin couldn’t corral the rebound on Jeong Jae-hee’s initial shot.
Then in the 54th minute, Jeong set up Iljutcenko for a diving header that cut the deficit to 3-2.
Son was subbed out in the 63rd minute as part of mass substitutions, and Spurs regained a two-goal advantage four minutes later on Will Lankshear’s volley off a Timo Werner cross.
Team K League pushed back on Oberdan’s goal in the 81st minute, a rocket of a first-time volley after Austin tried to clear away a corner.
Spurs survived a late flurry by Team K League for the one-goal win, though James Maddison nearly made it a 5-3 win after hitting the left post during stoppage time.
Son, who played in South Korea as captain of Spurs for the first time, said he had a whale of a time.
“Thanks to so much love and support from so many fans, I had a rea
lly fun match,” Son said. “Weather-wise, it wasn’t an ideal condition, but everyone did their best to satisfy the fans. I am sure fans enjoyed this.”
Spurs head coach Ange Postecoglou agreed, saying both teams “entertained the crowd.”
“It was a good game for the supporters. Plenty of goals, some good action,” he said, adding that getting good exercise and building up fitness levels is more important in preseason matches than results. “With the conditions, it was tough for the players. Our responsibility is to make sure we play a good game. I am sure they enjoyed the night.”
Yang Min-hyeok, an 18-year-old Gangwon FC forward who inked a deal with Spurs on Sunday, started for Team K League but made little impact. Tottenham said Yang, the youngest South Korean player ever to sign with a Premier League side, will join them in January 2025.
Postecoglou said he wasn’t really following players on the opposition side and had little to say about Yang’s performance.
“What’s important now is he concentrates on his c
lub football here and finishes his season strong,” the coach said. “He will have plenty of opportunity to show us what he can do and we will help him with that process.”
This was the first of two matches for Tottenham in the South Korean capital as part of the annual “Coupang Play Series.” Organized by the namesake streaming platform, the series has invited European football clubs to South Korea for preseason matches since 2022. This is Tottenham’s second trip to Seoul in three summers.
Spurs will next face the German giants Bayern Munich, featuring South Korean defender Kim Min-jae but minus former Tottenham star Harry Kane, on Saturday in Seoul.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
