I recently saw a YouTube Clip of the arrival of a celebrity at the Incheon International Airport in South Korea. The celebrity very simply dressed waived to the people gathered there and till he had boarded his vehicle he bowed and bowed, with all humility to his fans who had lined up the area to his car. The celebrity looked at ease, extremely humble and his feet firmly grounded, his achievements notwithstanding. This easy looking personality was Son Heung-min , the winner of the Golden Boot in the just concluded English Premier League Season, the dependable goal scoring phenomenon of Tottenham Hotspur, one of the finest clubs in English Football.
It is a rarity to see football players from Asia do exceptionally well in the extremely competitive and highly challenging European Leagues. Though over the years a few have represented Japan and Korea at this level, no one has actually reached the heights of success as Son Heung-min has done. The growth of Son has been incredible since his joining Tottenham Hotspur almost 6 years ago. However the road for Son has not been easy and is nothing short of a very interesting and inspiring story.
Son Heung-min was born in Chuncheon in the Gangwon Province. Son not only wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father( a retired footballer and manager ), but achieve much much more. His hardwork and sincerity was second to none and slowly and steadily the gifted Son began to capture attention in South Korea. However he wanted to reach Europe and make a mark on the big stage and therefore aged 16 Son moved to Germany and because of his superb skills became a part of Hamburger SV and two years later in 2010 played his first match for the club in the Bundesliga ( German Premier Football League ) aged 18. As stated by people close to him, such intense was his ambition that he even became fluent in the German Language by watching a famous TV show.
The progress of Son continued. He moved from Hamburger to Bayern Leverkusen and eventually landed in England post the 2015 season when he joined Tottenham Hotspur. Since then he has played a major role alongwith Harrry Kane in Tottenham’s growth as a football club which has led to the Club being a force to reckon with not only in England but across Europe. Son has already scored more than 100 goals for his club so far, but the just concluded season has been the pinnacle of his success. Scoring the most goals ( 23) and sharing the Golden Boot with Mo Salah has been a just reward for the brilliant Korean.
Son’s explosive speed, fierce finishing skills and an assured two footedness adding exclusivity to the already huge amount of talent possessed by him. His in sync play with Harry Kane has been a treat to watch and has led to many a goal scored by collaboration of the two.
Back home in South Korea, Son has been a toast of the nation and was recently awarded the Cheongnyong Medal, the highest order of merit for achievement in Sports given to a South Korean Citizen. However there was a bit of a twist in this honour bestowed on Son. Generally the medal is presented by the Minister of Culture, however in the case of Son Heung-min, the medal was presented by the South Korean President Yoon Suk yeol personally. This gesture clearly showed the massive achievement which Son has secured over the years and that how much he had inspired his countrymen.
Son would be captaining South Korea in the upcoming Football World Cup in Qatar this year and I am certain he would be mounting a serious challenge from amongst the Asian nations participating in the Tournament .
Hardwork, consistency and an unflinching quest for improvements all the time is an assured prescription for success in any field and a lesson learnt from the life of Son Heung-min, the bright and humble ‘ Son’ of South Korea.