Tottenham star Heung-min Son is South Korea's main hope of progressing at the World Cup.
The forward is a living legend in his country and is one of the only top players they have.
Son is the talisman of this South Korea side
The 30-year-old has scored three goals in six World Cup appearances and has been included in the squad despite recently undergoing surgery to fix a fractured eye socket.
Son was involved in a sickening clash during Spurs' Champions League game against Marseille that ruled him out of Tottenham's final matches before the break.
Heung-min Son injury: What's the latest?
Given Son has made over 100 appearances for South Korea and is one of the most popular people in the country, it's no real surprise he was included in the squad.
But his injury was serious, and head coach Paulo Bento revealed he wasn't sure when Son could return to training: "We don't have that information yet.
"We are in contact with him, with the Tottenham medical department. We need to wait, we need to analyse day by day his situation.
"We have time to decide and the most important is he recovers as well as possible, he feels comfortable and then we will take the final decision."
Son is yet to return to training but hopes to be involved against Uruguay next week
But Son has insisted he will be ready to play and help inspire his side through the group stages.
He said: "I won't miss this for the world. I can't wait to represent our beautiful country.
"I just wanted to take a moment to say thank you all for the messages of support I have received over the last week.
"I have read so many of them and truly, truly appreciate you all. In a tough time I received a lot of strength from you!
"Playing for your country at the World Cup is the dream of so many children growing up, just as it was one of mine too."
Son being fit would be a huge boost to South Korea in a tricky group
So with just a few days until South Korea get their World Cup campaign underway, it appears Son is determined to be involved.
Of course, if he does play, he might be forced to wear a face shield to help protect the damaged eye socket.
But after a few days of training in London, the forward revealed he was going to join up with the rest of the squad on November 15.
He told media in his native country: "We still need to give it time to see. I will be training here and travel on Tuesday. Once I finish up the training sessions I'm scheduled to travel on the 15th."
No comments:
Post a Comment