Son Heung-min takes one more game off.
Son Heung-min, who was excluded from the official game list for the first time in a year and 10 months since November 2022 due to a hamstring injury pointing to the muscles behind the thigh, will take one more game off.
Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League will not be able to play in an away match against the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) club. They were not on a plane heading to their hometowns.
Tottenham manager Anji Postecoglou confirmed this. Postecoglou classified Son Heung-min as injured in a pre-press conference held a day before an away match against Ferencvaros, the second leg of the Europa League phase, in Budapest, Hungary on the 2nd (local time).
Son was not seen in the video of his team boarding a plane to Hungary, which Tottenham released earlier. Son seems to be concentrating on rehabilitation while resting in London, England.
Tottenham will have a showdown with Ferencvaros at 4 a.m. on Wednesday. Tottenham won its first Europa League phase on April 27 by beating Garabakh (Azerbaijan) 3-0 despite their numerical inferiority. Tottenham is considered a strong candidate for the Europa League title this season.
According to Football London, a London-based club media outlet, Postecoglou briefly mentioned, “Radou Dragusin can’t play because he was sent off (before), and Son Heung-min is in London to recover,” adding, “We organized an away game squad mainly for the rest of the players, especially young players.”
Son Heung-min appealed for a replacement of Dominique Solanke’s third goal at Tottenham’s home game against Garabakh as he felt abnormal shortly after the assist.
Son Heung-min attempted a strong right-footed shot first, and when the opposing goalkeeper hit it, Solanke put it back in, and in the meantime, Son complained of inconvenience and sat on the ground looking at the bench. After replacing Timo Werner, Son entered the locker room rather than the bench, drawing concerns.
“He wants to train tomorrow. We will decide whether he will play in the next game,” Postecoglou said in a press conference the day after the match against Karabakh. But he was excluded from the list of players in an away match against Manchester United on June 30. He was excluded from the list of players for the first time since suffering an orbital fracture in November 2022 during a UEFA Champions League match.
It was then clear that he would be removed from the list for the second consecutive game until the match against Ferencz Barlow.
Son Heung-min was also likely to skip the Europa League, with two reporters, Alessdair Gold and Rob Guest, who are working as reporters for Football London, signaling Son’s absence.
Gold predicted Dominique Solanke, Timo Werner and Mikey Moore as three-top players in the 4-3-3 formation. Moore is an 18-year-old striker, and Tottenham signed a contract with the first team this year to nurture future Son Heung-min. Solanke is a key striker who was brought in for 110 billion won (130 million U.S. dollars) a month ago. Werner is a former German national team player who is backing up Son. However, he showed problems in scoring goals by missing the Big Chance twice in an away match with Manchester United on June 30.
Guests also had the same three-top composition. Werner and Moore will stand on the left and right sides, respectively, and Solanke will play as a striker.
However, Son Heung-min is expected to play in the Premier League’s home game against Brighton at 0:30 a.m. on the 7th, the next match of Ferencvaros. The match against Brighton is a bridgehead for Tottenham to enter the top ranks. As Tottenham is a much stronger opponent than Ferencvaros, chances are high that Tottenham will prepare Son for the match.
If Tottenham beats Brighton, it will win three consecutive Premier League matches, and overcome consecutive defeats by Newcastle and Arsenal in Round 3 and Round 4 to make inroads into the semi-finals, its goal for this season. It is expected that Son will be in normal condition in the last match before the A-match break. Son’s hamstring is not 100 percent normal, but he will reportedly recover if he takes a few days off.
Meanwhile, 스포츠토토 Korean national soccer team coach Hong Myung-bo also told a news conference late last month that Son may not be able to play in the second consecutive October match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-China World Cup. Hong said he has prepared a “plan B” for now.
