S. Korea captain Son Heung-min ‘proud’ of young teammates

Watching his 20-something teammates make one great play after another to help South Korea beat Kuwait in a World Cup qualifier Tuesday night, captain Son Heung-min beamed with pride.

Still not fully recovered from a nagging foot injury, Son, 32, started South Korea’s 4-0 win on the bench. He came on in the 75th minute to help close out a 4-0 win at Seoul World Cup Stadium and marveled afterward how those youngsters had exceeded his expectations.

“I was so proud of those young players who started today,” Son said, with two of those new starters, Bae Jun-ho and Oh Hyeon-gyu, having combined for one goal and two assists. “They played so much better than I’d expected. They were not intimidated at all and played the way they’re capable of playing. I felt really proud of them watching from the bench.”

Head coach Hong Myung-bo was able to experiment with his lineup because South Korea had already clinched their World Cup berth with a 2-0 win over Iraq last week.

South Korea will be playing in their 11th consecutive World Cup, and although South Korea ended the third round with an undefeated record of six wins and four draws, Son said the journey was far from easy.

“I know people just assume that we should come out of Asia with ease, but nothing has been easy,” Son said. “I think we were able to finish well here because everyone came together with the same goal of never losing a match. I am really proud of these guys, and they deserve so much credit.”

Son had a down year with Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League, being held to just seven goals in league action and 11 goals in all competitions — both of them his lowest totals since his first season there in 2015-16. Still, he ended it on a high note by winning the UEFA Europa League title in late May, Tottenham’s first trophy in 17 years and the first one of Son’s career.

“I know people may say I had a disappointing year, but personally, this was a special season because you play football to win, and only winners are remembered,” Son said of the Europa League trophy. “I wasn’t in my best form for most of the season, but hopefully, I will be in better condition going into the new season.”

Son has been subject to some transfer speculation, with the volume being turned up a few notches after head coach Ange Postecoglou was fired last week.

Asked about his future, Son preached patience.

“I still have one more year left on the contract,” Son said. “Rather than saying anything at this moment, I think we should all wait and see what happens. But no matter where I end up, I will always do the best I can. It will never change.”

And Son said he wanted to do his best under the circumstances Tuesday because he felt he owed it to the fans at home. By collecting his 134th cap, Son broke a tie with former goalkeeper Lee Woon-jae and climbed to third place on the South Korean all-time rankings.

He now trails just two former players by two caps: his current national team boss Hong Myung-bo and Cha Bum-kun.

“I wasn’t 100 percent, but I wanted to play in front of fans here,” Son said. “There are some matches where you have to push yourself extra hard, and this was one of those.”