Opinion | Son Heung-min’s success with Tottenham a game-changer for perception of Asian footballers
- Spurs star is eclipsing Park Ji-sung, Shinji Kagawa and Hidetoshi Nakata
- South Korean is dispelling stereotypes about Asian players at the top level
Glancing at the nominees for the most recent Champions League player of the week, some of the usual powerhouse footballing nations were represented – Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands.
But alongside Lionel Messi, Roberto Firmino and Matthijs de Ligt was an unusual sight, particularly in a quarter-final week – an Asian face.
Barcelona genius Messi may have won for his virtuoso performance in the destruction of Manchester United. But arguably Tottenham’s brilliant South Korean star Son Heung-min was the player of the round.
With Spurs leading 1-0 from the home leg thanks to Son’s goal, the forward helped steer them into a semi-final against Ajax Amsterdam with two quick-fire goals in the dramatic 4-4 aggregate win over Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.
This after Raheem Sterling had quickly cancelled out Spurs’ first-leg advantage within a matter of minutes. Tottenham could have buckled were it not for Son’s two excellent finishes in a crazy opening 20 minutes. That set the stage for an incredible night, capped off by two huge VAR decisions – one allowing Fernando Llorente’s decisive goal, the other denying an injury-time “winner” for Sterling.