 Son with Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Son Heung-Min | ||
| Date of birth | 8 July 1992 | ||
| Place of birth | Chuncheon, Gangwon, South Korea | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Playing position | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Bayer Leverkusen | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2008 | FC Seoul U-18 Team[1] | ||
| 2008–2010 | Hamburger SV | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2010–2013 | Hamburger SV | 73 | (20) |
| 2013– | Bayer Leverkusen | 12 | (7) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2008–2009 | South Korea U17 | 15 | (7) |
| 2010– | South Korea | 22 | (5) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 December 2013.
† Appearances (Goals).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 19 November 2013 | |||
| Son Heung-Min | |
| Hangul | 손흥민 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 孫興民 |
| Revised Romanization | Son Heung-min |
| McCune–Reischauer | Son Hŭng-min |
Son Heung-min (Hangul: 손흥민) (born 8 July 1992) is a South Korean footballer who plays as a forwardfor Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga.[2] As "a pacey, two-footed forward, Son can play a number of attacking positions, and has consistently shown that he is a lethal finisher in front of goal."[3]
Club career
Hamburger SV
In 2008, Son dropped out of FC Seoul U-18 Team Dongbuk High School[4] and joined Hamburg's youth academy at the age of 16.[5] He was impressive in the 2010–11 preseason, leading the team with nine goals and signed his first professional contract on his 18th birthday.[6] After scoring against Chelsea in August, he was injured for two months due to a foot injury. He came back on 30 October 2010 scoring his first league goal against 1. FC Köln in the 24th minute. The goal made Son the youngest HSV player to have scored a goal in Bundesliga at 18 years, thus breaking the previous 39-year record held by Manfred Kaltz.[7][8]
Son signed a new deal with Hamburg, which would keep him at the club until 2014. It was stated, that Son had what it takes to become the next Cha Bum-Kun, a legendary Bundesliga forward, who is of the same nationality as Son.[9]
During the 2011–12 pre-season, Son scored 18 goals in 9 games.[10] After missing the opening game due to a fever, Son scored two goals within three games.[11] Unfortunately, mirroring last season, Son picked up an ankle injury in the 4–3 loss to 1. FC Köln on 27 August and was initially projected to be out of action for four to six weeks.[12] Fortunately, Son's recovery was quicker than expected, and he returned to action only three weeks later as a substitute in the 1–0 loss against Borussia Mönchengladbach on 17 September. Over the course of the 2011–12 season, Son made 30 appearances for Hamburg and scored 5 goals, including crucial goals against Hannover and Nurnberg at the end of the season to help ensure that Hamburg remained in the Bundesliga.[13]
Following Hamburger SV's 2012–13 off-season moves, which saw the transfers of the team's strikersMladen Petrić and Paolo Guerrero to Fulham and Corinthians respectively, manager Thorsten Fink chose to place Son in a starting role for the team. The 2012–13 season was a breakthrough season for Son as he scored two goals in the away fixture against Borussia Dortmund on 9 February 2013, helping his side to a 4–1 victory. Son was chosen Mann des Tages (Man of the Match) by Kicker.[14]
On 14 April 2013, Son netted two goals in a 2–1 win against Mainz. He finished the season with 12 goals, becoming the fourth Asian footballer to achieve double-digits in goals in the 'Big 3' European football leagues.[15]
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
On 13 June 2013, Bayer 04 Leverkusen confirmed Son's transfer for reportedly 10 million euros, the highest transfer fee the club has ever paid in its history. Son agreed to a five-year deal with the team.[16] Son adjusted quickly to his new club in the preseason, scoring three goals in his first three appearances for the team in exhibition matches (against 1860 Munich, Udinese, and KAS Eupen respectively).[17]
On 9 November 2013, Son scored a hat-trick for Leverkusen in a 5-3 win against his former club Hamburg.[18]
On the 7th December 2013, Son scored a crucial goal away to Borussia Dortmund to put his club just four points off the summit of the Bundesliga.
International career
Son has made multiple appearances for South Korea at the senior level, netting one goal in the process against India in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup. Former South Korea national team coach Cho Kwang-Rae acknowledged that Son had not been given enough chances at the international level and promised greater consideration for Son's role in future matches.[19] After initially missing the first two games of South Korea's 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign on 2 and 6 September 2011 due to an ankle injury, on 7 October Son played in a friendly against Poland, and was again featured in the 11 October World Cup qualifier against the United Arab Emirates.[20][21] His selection for national team play was a point of concern for Son's father, however, who caused a stir by asking the Korea Football Association not to select his son for the national team in the immediate future so he can rest and mature more as a player. Cho Kwang-Rae (who was the South Korea coach at the time) responded by saying that he would continue to call up Son when needed.[22]
Son turned down the opportunity to participate in the 2012 London Olympics, opting to concentrate on his club career at Hamburg. Son was quoted as saying, “In Korea, an Olympic appearance has a special meaning, but I want to speed up for Hamburg. What matters is to pour all my time into team training.”[23] Son did, however, play for the national team in the autumn of 2012 for two 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Lebanon and Iran,[24] and has become a regular call-up in friendlies and World Cup qualifying matches in 2013. In the World Cup qualifier against Qatar on 23 March 2013, Son came on as a substitute in the 81st minute and scored the winning goal in the 96th minute
