'Captain' Son Heung-min (Tottenham) will finally return.
Tottenham will play Aston Villa at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London at 11 p.m. on the 3rd (Korea time) in the 10th round of the English Premier League in 2024-2025 season. The focus of attention is also on Son Heung-min. The official press conference before the game was also tailored to whether Son Heung-min will return or not, as was the case in recent games.
Coach Enze Postecoglou finally announced Son Heung-min's return. Coach Postecoglou said in a press conference on the 1st, `Son Heung-min trained today. If I train again tomorrow, I will participate." He explained that if pain does not recur during training, he will play against Aston Villa.
It's finally a return. Son Heung-min has recently suffered from an injury. Son Heung-min failed to play in the round of 16 of the EFL Cup in 2024-2025 season against Manchester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on the 31st. Coach Postecoglou said on the 30th, `Son Heung-min has almost recovered, but from our point of view, the goal is to play in the weekend game (not against Manchester City). At that time, I have confidence that Son Heung-min will come back."
Ahead of the game, there were rumors about when Son Heung-min would return. Regarding Son's recent condition, Postecoglou said, `Strictly speaking, it is not a hamstring injury.' "He was ruled out for a while, and he approached conservatively because he wasn't very good after the last game." It was explained that it was not an injury, but a recurrence of injury and conditioning.
Postecoglou continued, `Sonny will be able to return next week if everything is okay.' `Son Heung-min seems to be improving well. One of the next two games will be available." The two games that Postecoglou is talking about were the League Cup against Manchester City on the 31st and the league match against Aston Villa on November 3rd. It was predicted that he would be able to return to the match against Manchester City at the earliest, but he was eventually excluded. Fortunately, Tottenham held Manchester City 2-1 and continued their dream of winning.
Son Heung-min was also absent from the ninth round of the EPL against Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park in London on the 27th. Coach Postecoglou spoke about Son's condition at a press conference before the game on the 25th. He said "All the players who played against Alkmaar in the Europa League are fine. I'm a little tired, but there are no injured players" Son Heung-min's physical condition is not 100%. Team training will not be held on the 25th. He can't play in weekend games either. We have to wait and see how it progresses from now on."
It was shocking news. Son Heung-min also failed to play against Alkmaar on the 25th. Postecoglou said in an official press conference after the public training session that `Son Heung-min was a little sick after the weekend match. Son Heung-min was not going to play anyway. Because Son Heung-min was a little absent. So I'm not going to let Son play tomorrow, I'm going to wait and see what the situation will be like." Tottenham won 1-0 with Hishalisson's return goal in Son Heung-min's absence. Tottenham appeared to be preparing for the weekend league game by excluding a large number of key players.
Son Heung-min was called the 'steel king'. Since joining the team in 2015, he has never suffered a major injury except for an orbital fracture. Hamstring injuries were relatively frequent due to the explosive main weapon, but he has always shown off his resilience beyond expectations. After returning, he showed no signs of shaking. But this time it's different.
The start was Karabakh FK's Europa League match on the 27th of last month. Son Heung-min started in the match, but he felt an abnormality in his right thigh and was replaced in the 23rd minute of the second half. After the game, both Son Heung-min and Postecoglou said it was not a big problem, but the situation was not. Son Heung-min missed all the following matches against Manchester United, Ferencvaros and Brighton. He did not even join the national team during the A-match period in October. Originally, he was listed on the Hong Myung-bo team, but coach Hong Myung-bo removed his name from the list to protect the players.
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| Photo capture=Son Heung-min personal SNS capture |
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Before the match against Manchester United, Postecoglou also said, `Everything is fine except for Son Heung-min. I don't think Son Heung-min is that bad. I'll see how he goes in training and make a decision from there,' but the injury was longer than expected. It was the first time Son Heung-min left the team for such a long time since November 2022, when he was out due to an orbital fracture injury. Even the national team was excluded, and the voices of concern became louder.
Fortunately, he crossed the A-match and recovered quickly. Son Heung-min is reportedly close to returning in person on the 13th. He posted a message on his social media, 'Back soon'(going back soon)', interposing a photo of him wearing a sweat suit and sneakers. Tottenham fans also cheered the post, saying they could not wait. Dr. Rajpal Bra, a V-Sang expert, also said, `Son Heung-min does not appear to be seriously injured. I think I will return after the A match period. But the important thing is how he looks in his training. You have to pass the physical test, and it's up to him to play full time."
Coach Postecoglou said in a club interview on the 17th that Son Heung-min will return from the match against West Ham. He said, `Son Heung-min and Hisalysong were good. I trained with my colleagues. It's really positive news for us. Son Heung-min will be ready because he spent this A-match break really well. "I hope both players will be able to participate in the weekend game because the Hisalysong was also good."
Tottenham also released a video of Son Heung-min training with his teammates on its official YouTube channel. Son Heung-min, who appeared at the gym first, seemed to be in a light physical condition. Son Heung-min went to the training ground laughing with his teammates. On the 18th, he released photos of players who returned to the club to participate in training after the A-match period, and posted photos of Son Heung-min smiling in plain clothes.
Coach Postecoglou announced Son Heung-min's return at an official press conference against West Ham. Postecoglou said, `Son Heung-min is in good shape,' adding, `He has trained hard for the past two weeks. I regret not being able to play in the national team, but two weeks was a good time." Then "I had a solid training session. Now I'm ready to get back on the field. to be able to participate" he confirmed.
Son Heung-min, who returned, had a return match that couldn't have been better. Son Heung-min, who started on the left wing, played on the ground for 70 minutes, and succeeded in inducing one goal and one starting point and one earned goal. In fact, he made three goals. Son Heung-min, who preheated his senses with a unique winding kick in the 15th minute of the first half, served as the starting point for the winning goal in the 6th minute of the second half when the score was 1-1. Son Heung-min stabbed an exquisite pass to Destiny Udo-gi, who was digging in. Yves Bissouma finished Udo-gi's cutback. In the 9th minute, Dejan Kulusevski took a pass and fired, which went in after being hit by the goalkeeper and the opposing defender Jean-Claire Todibo. It was recorded as an own goal by goalkeeper Alfonce Areola.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Son Heung-min, who unfortunately missed his return goal, opened the West Ham goal in the 14th minute. After beating the defender in a counterattack, he shook the net with a powerful left-footed shot. his third goal of the season. Son Heung-min tied for 19th in EPL history with 123 goals from Raheem Sterling and Dwight Yorke. Son Heung-min came out after replacing Timo Werner in a standing ovation in the 25th minute of the second half.
He played on the ground for 70 minutes, and succeeded in inducing one goal and one starting point and one earned goal. In fact, he made three goals. Son made 43 touches on the day. He made 26 passes, showing an 84% pass success rate. Two chances were created, and two of the four shots were headed to the net. He also made one dribble. In 20 games against West Ham, he scored nine goals and seven assists, showing a natural enemy. Son Heung-min became the official MOM (Man of the Match) after the game with 51.9% of the vote. The highest rating was also Son Heung-min's. After scoring mechanical ratings, Scored Dotcom, Footmob, and SofaScore gave the highest ratings in the team with 8.34, 8.4, and 8.0 points. Football London also gave a thumbs up, giving them a top nine points.
However, the injury did not continue the upward trend. Immediately after the match against West Ham, Son Heung-min unprecedentedly revealed his inner feelings. At the time, he told the broadcast channel "Sadly, he is 32 years old. I know that every game is a showdown that I really want to take seriously. "I know that the game will not come back. So I'm playing all the games seriously. I want to treat it like it's my last game of my career" he said. It was a remark as if he had an intuition of his situation.
Tottenham eventually realized the absence of Son Heung-min. Tottenham lost 0-1 in the first half without scoring a goal after giving Jang-Philippe Mateta the first goal. It was a shocking loss to the lowest-ranked team without a win in the league. Mike Moore, who was praised by the British media and legends for replacing Son Heung-min's role, did nothing. It was a game that only confirmed how important Son Heung-min is, who should be excluded because the aging curve came.
Teammates also lamented Son's absence. Tottenham goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario told Sky Sports after the Crystal Palace match, `Son Heung-min is the captain, but we have a big squad so we have to deal with his absence"We should be able to win the game without Son Heung-min."
Fortunately, Tottenham overcame the crisis without Son Heung-min. Son Heung-min is also back on the front line through rapid recovery. Son Heung-min's presence at Tottenham is absolute. The EPL secretariat compared Tottenham's performance when Son Heung-min played in and missed the EPL game after Postecoglou took the helm. The EPL said that under Postecoglou, Son was at the center of Tottenham's everything, adding, "'Can he lead Tottenham back to victory with a potential return to action against Aston Villa on Sunday?'
Postecoglou has led 47 EPL matches. Son Heung-min played 41 games together and missed six. The winning rate of Son Heung-min's game is 54%. When absent, it drops to 33%. The number of points earned per game is also two, which is higher than one point when there is no point. The score is the same as two goals, but the number of shots is 16 to 15, which is more when Son Heung-min is on the ground.
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| Reuters Yonhap News |
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Of course, Yeonguk's media are welcoming it. England's Hotspur HQ, which mainly delivers Tottenham news, also said 'Needless to say, it's great news just that Son Heung-min is back. Whether Son Heung-min is a starter or not, it will be a good thing for Postecoglou to even select him for the squad."We hope Son will play again in the match against Villa. It looks positive considering that he's run in training' he expected. Another British media outlet, Spurs Web, also welcomed Son's return and predicted that Son will play as a starting three-top against Aston Villa with Dominic Solanke and Brennan Johnson.
Son Heung-min's watch began to turn again.
vanbasten@sportschosun.com
