‘Sharp Son.’
The British media has given Son a new nickname. He called Son’s “Sharp SON” and highlighted Son’s neat and simple play. Son was often called “Super SON,” “SON Shine,” and “Nice One Sonny.”
The British media “Mirror” reported on Tuesday (Korea time) that Son Heung-min shone in the match against West Ham. Son led Tottenham’s devastating performance in the second half and came from behind to defeat its neighbor West Ham. West Ham collapsed like a devil after half-time. 안전놀이터
Tottenham defeated West Ham 4-1 in the eighth round of the English Premier League in the 2024-2025 season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on the 19th.
After returning from injury, Son was directly involved in three goals including a netting, showing off his strong physical strength. When Son became clear to win, he replaced Timo Werner at the 15th minute of the second half, and arranged his physical strength.
The Mirror said, “Tottenham led 3-1 due to a comical own goal following Son’s shot. The Korean superstar soon scored his fourth goal. West Ham’s Mohamed Qudus pushed two Tottenham players across the face and was sent off due to VAR.”
The Mirror summarized Son’s performance as “Sharp Son.”
“The Spurs captain was sidelined for three weeks due to injury. He showed no signs of rusting with his ruthless and efficient performance. Overall, he came desperately close to scoring with his brilliant efforts. He caused a decisive explosion early in the second half. He took Tottenham to a higher level.”
The Mirror praised Son’s performance, saying, “His score did not come out until the fourth time, but it was also his shot that led to the third time. Son also hit the post once, creating two clear chances. He virtually secured a point within 70 minutes before being replaced. As expected, a standing ovation burst out.”
Son was hurt in a home game against Karabakh FK in the first round of the Europa League on June 27. At 26 minutes in the second half of the season, he sat down when he complained of thigh pain.
Since then, he has been excluded from away matches at Manchester United in the sixth round of the Premier League, away matches at Ferencvaros in the second round of the Europa League, and away matches at Brighton in the seventh round of the Premier League. He was also not called up for the third Asian qualifying team for the 2026 North-China World Cup.
Tottenham did well with a 2-1 record in Son’s absence. However, they waited for Son’s return as Werner showed a disappointing performance in goal-scoring.
Son Heung-min showed off very light movements in his comeback match. He stabbed a pass that served as the starting point for the come-from-behind goal in the sixth minute of the second half when the score was 1-1. Son grabbed the ball and crept into the left side, looking for an opportunity. When Destiny Udo-gi penetrated, he put in a forward pass with an out front. Udo-gi connected with an accurate cutback to Yves Bissouma. Bissouma shot with one touch and exploded the goal.
Son also induced an opponent’s own goal in the 9th minute of the second half. Son connected a long forward pass to Dejan Kulusevski during a counterattack. Son then overlapped Kulusevski with a sincere sprint. Kulusevski saw Son and pushed him. Son’s shot hit the opponent’s goalkeeper, hit the defender again, and was sucked into the goal.
Son Heung-min finally scored a comeback goal in the 15th minute of the second half. His individual breakthrough shone.
West Ham, who put up a lot of lines, was punished by Son Heung-min.
Tottenham cut off West Ham’s offensive work. Pape Sarr found Son Heung-min, who was positioned on the left side of the front line, and stabbed a deep forward pass. Son was one-on-one with the center back. Son broke the defender’s balance with a false-legged fight and broke through the left side to open the shooting angle. Son scored the decisive goal with a left-footed shot.
Son Heung-min played for only 70 minutes and swept the team’s highest rating.
The soccer statistics media “Huskerdcom” gave Son an 8.34 rating, the highest among the two teams. Football statistics media “Footmob” also gave Son the highest rating along with Kulusevski, who was considered the best player in the team with an 8.5 rating. Sofascore also gave Son an 8.0 rating as the best player in the game.
In an official interview, Son said, “Sometimes it can be good to miss out on an injury. We have very busy times. Two to three weeks was perfect for me to recharge myself. I felt really, really good today.”
“When we lost our first goal, coach Enze Postecoglou was not in a good mood. We need to protect our goal like home,” Son said. “However, we were very satisfied with the overall performance.”
Football London said, “Son Heung-min admitted that he felt pressure to produce results in Postecoglou’s system, but he didn’t pay much attention.”
“(Postecoglou’s soccer) is fun, but it also puts a lot of pressure on him. A winger needs to create chances and score goals as well. I think where we need to be, there is a lot of joy as well as pressure,” Son said.
