Son Heung-min, captain of the South Korean men's national football team, speaks to reporters before a training session for the FIFA World Cup at Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, Utah, Tuesday (local time). Yonhap
HERRIMAN, United States — Gearing up for his fourth FIFA World Cup this summer, South Korea captain Son Heung-min is closing in on a record in a career full of many.
Son has netted three goals so far in his World Cup career, tied with retired stars Ahn Jung-hwan and Park Ji-sung for the most by a South Korean player. Son had a goal in his World Cup debut in Brazil in 2014 and had two more four years later in Russia.
One more goal will make Son, 33, the best South Korean goal scorer in World Cup history, but the Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) star insisted Tuesday he wasn't paying much mind to his individual stats.
"Obviously, it's impossible not to be hearing about these records. People have been telling me about them, and fans have taken great interest in them," Son told reporters at Zions Bank Training Center in Herriman, in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, the site of the national team training camp. "But I've just not been thinking too much about them. If I put the team above all else and worry about how I can best help the team first, then goals will naturally follow. That's how I've been playing my whole career, and that mindset won't change."
Son's goal scoring prowess has already been proven. He won the Premier League Golden Boot while with Tottenham Hotspur in the 2021-2022 season, and he is No. 2 on the all-time South Korean rankings with 54, just four back of Cha Bum-kun.
This season, though, Son has had to deal with the narrative that he has lost a step and his best days are behind him. Though he is tied for the Major League Soccer lead with nine assists in 13 matches, he has yet to find the back of the net in league play. His only two goals of the season in all competitions have come at the Concacaf Champions Cup -- first in February and then in April.
Though Son wasn't asked about his lack of scoring this season, he discussed the elephant in the room unprompted.
"A lot of people are worried, but I'm only worried if I am not playing well. I don't think it's the case now," Son said. "Physically, I am feeling great. But in other interviews, I joked that I was probably saving goals for the World Cup."
With South Korea chasing another knockout berth after reaching the round of 16 at the 2022 tournament in Qatar, Son said South Korea's success will depend on attention to detail.
Source: Korea Times News
