The Unprecedented Player of Tottenham Hotspur

In Korea, there is no one who doesn’t know Son Heung-min when it comes to talking about soccer. Son Heungmin has become famous as the captain of the Tottenham club. Recently, he became the top scorer in the EPL and won the Golden Boot Award, which is difficult to achieve in such a very competitive field. I hope we can appreciate Son Heung-min more and continue to support him! ..................................Ed

 There is a Korean player who plays in England’s top professional football league, EPL (English Premier League): Son Heungmin of Tottenham Hotspur. He is an indispensable player for Tottenham Hotspur. According to a statistics company, only two players, Erling Haaland and Son Heung-min, scored more than 25% out of 152 players who have attempted more than 100 shots in the top five European leagues since the 2021-2022 season. Son has scored double digit goals in the EPL over the past three seasons, and still scoring goals and assists every week. As a result, his economic ripple effect has also increased. According to the Ministry of Culture, Son’s value in European soccer is 120.6 billion won, and the production inducement effect is 620.7 billion won. In addition, the intangible value induced by Son in South Korea, such as raising self-esteem and motivating the youth, was estimated to be 729.2 billion won.

 Then, what was Son Heung-min’s recent game that people were most interested in? It was Tottenham versus Norwich in the 38th round of the Premier League on May 23. This is because it was a very important game in which Tottenham’s advance to the Champions League was revealed, and Son’s EPL top scorer ranking was determined. Only the fourth-place team will be given a chance to advance to the Champions League. Tottenham was fourth, and Arsenal fifth in the Premier League just before the game. Since the two clubs had only two points difference between them, if Tottenham drew, they would secure one point and secure fourth place, confirming their advance to the Champions League. Also, Son Heung-min was ranked second with 21 goals in the EPL just before the game, behind Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.

 The difference between the two players was only one goal, so if Son scores one goal in this game, he will become the EPL’s top scorer with Salah, and win the Golden Boot Award. At the same time during the Tottenham game, Salah scored one goal in another game, but Son scored multiple goals, giving both players the honor of winning the Golden Boot Award as co-scorer. Son scored all 23 goals without a penalty kick, so this is an unprecedented record. As a result, Son Heung-min of South Korea became the first Asian player to score in the top five European leagues. He said, “I’m so happy to receive this award. I’ve been dreaming of this award since I was young, but it’s in my hand now. I can’t believe it.” The result was also a 5-0 win for Tottenham to qualify for the Champions League.

 Due to Son Heung-min’s high status, the Tottenham Hotspur team came to Korea to play a friendly match. Tottenham have played twice each against Team K League and Seville. In particular, in the game against the Team K League held on July 13, a total of nine goals were scored, giving the audience so much joy. Son still showed his potential by scoring multiple goals. At halftime, 12 K League mascots and Tottenham mascot Lily played a running match. In both games, about three million people across the country watched the Tottenham game, confirming how much interest the people were giving.

 Son Heung-min’s performance is just the beginning. A new 2022-2023 Premier League season awaits him. In addition, the 2022 Qatar World Cup will be held in November this year. As South Korea advanced to the finals for the 10th consecutive time, much attention is expected to be paid to this World Cup. Son also launched a new brand called NOS7. The NOS7 business was successful, selling out its merchandise on the day of its opening. His influence will be even greater in the future.

Lee You-bin (ST Cub-Reporter)

leapforward@soongsil.ac.kr