AFC Asian Cup: South Korea idol Son Heung-min targeting ‘special’ tournament, goal hero Lee heaps praise on colleagues
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Son Heung-min told South Korea fans to strap themselves in for a long and “special” journey at the AFC Asian Cup finals, after Jurgen Klinsmann’s team beat Bahrain 3-1 in their opening game on Monday.
The Koreans have failed to win the continent’s biggest international prize since 1960, despite reaching four finals, and another four semi-finals, in the past 64 years.
Time is running out for Son to add what would be the first major honour of a career littered with personal accolades.
The 31-year-old was relatively subdued in the first match of his fourth finals, and it was the thrilling young winger, Lee Kang-in, who dug South Korea out of a hole with a quality double strike, after Bahrain striker Abdulla Alhashhash cancelled out Hwang In-beom’s opener.
“It is going to be a long journey, we want to focus game-by-game. and make it as special as possible,” Son said.
“You cannot compare this to previous tournaments. The generation, and style of football, have changed. We have fantastic, talented players … an unbelievable team, but it is all about commitment. We have not won the Asian Cup for 64 years, and we want to make [this tournament] special with this team.