Soccer players don’t touch their knees well during games. This is because it is interpreted as a movement that reveals to the opponent that they are tired. However, after the game, it is a little different. It often has the meaning of being unsatisfied or despondent.
The same happened to Son Heung-min (32) of Tottenham Hotspur FC. After the second Group E match against Jordan at the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup at Altumama Stadium in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday (Korea time), he bowed down, held his knees and sat down.
Everything was disappointing. The German team led by Jürgen Klinsmann literally survived. If Hwang In-beom (28, Tsurvena Zvezda) had not hit the opponent’s defender and made it into the net at extra time in the second half, when the team was trailing 1-2, it would have been in shock.
Son Heung-min showed less performance than usual. Working with Cho Kyu-sung (26, Mit Whelan) at the frontier, Son diligently ran back and forth between the front and left sides, but was not nutritious. Only one scene was good. At the 9th minute in the first half, he broke through the gate after Hwang In-beom’s penetration pass, and scored the penalty kick he garnered with an exquisite Panenka kick. It was his 42nd goal in the A-match and his 5th goal in the Asian Cup.
Son Heung-min, who plays 119 A matches and numerous international competitions in it, was also unable to use his strength in Jordan’s sticky defense.
He admitted that he was a graduate student. “The score was special, but we didn’t win. We lost a lot of points. We talked (with players) about the need for improvement,” he said in a local television and mixed zone interview.
However, the match against Jordan is in the past. What is important is now the next match. The Korean team will have its third and final group match against Malaysia under its coach Kim Pan-gon at the Al-Wakra Al-Zanub Stadium in Qatar on Saturday. It is a crossroads for Korea to rank No. 1 and No. 2 in the group. Korea is tied with Jordan with one win and one draw and four points, but is in second place due to differences in gains and losses. The fact that Korea needs to finish the group match second to avoid Japan, ranking second in Group D, in the round of 16, is highlighted, but now is not the time for the Korean team to choose its opponent and pay attention. Korea should regain performance and achieve the desired results to move on to the next stage. 마카오카지노
The same goes for Son. “If you want to win, it’s not a big deal. There are no easy games to play. You have to win no matter who you meet.” Starting with the 2011 Qatar Asian Cup as the youngest member of the Korean national team, Son returned to Qatar after playing in Australia in 2015 and the United Arab Emirates in 2019. If the 2022 Qatar World Cup is added, it will be the third major championship in Qatar alone. The captain needs to boost his performance while vitalizing his teammates to revive the entire team.