Soccer

Son Heung-min injured finger in table tennis row with South Korea team-mates

Senior players took issue with youngsters playing table tennis the night before Asia Cup exit

Son Heung-Min with his right index and middle finger strapped together when he came off the bench in Tottenham's win over Brighton. Photograph: John Walton/PA Wire
Son Heung-Min with his right index and middle finger strapped together when he came off the bench in Tottenham's win over Brighton. Photograph: John Walton/PA Wire
Wed Feb 14 2024 - 12:59

The Tottenham Hotspur and South Korea captain Son Heung-min injured his finger in an altercation with team-mates on the eve of his country’s exit from the Asian Cup.

The players quarrelled during a team dinner before their 2-0 semi-final defeat by Jordan last week, which extended their 64-year wait for another Asian Cup title.

“It happened when some young players went up to play table tennis, and Son Heung-min and other older players took issue with it,” a South Korean Football Federation official said on Wednesday. “The players exchanged a few words and Son hurt his finger in the process.”

South Korea’s loss was a stunning upset by Jordan, who were ranked 87th in the world, while Jürgen Klinsmann’s side were 64 places above them. Jordan went on to lose 3-1 in the final against the hosts, Qatar.

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Klinsmann said he accepted responsibility for the team’s exit but did not offer to resign. “Obviously we’re disappointed,” he said. “We had the big goal of playing in the final but Jordan deserves this win, they deserve to play in the final. I’m not planning to do anything, I will analyse this tournament, go back to Korea with the team and talk with the federation about what was good and not so good in the tournament.”

After returning from the tournament in Qatar, Son came off the bench in Tottenham’s Premier League match against Brighton on Saturday with his right index and middle finger strapped together. The 31-year-old helped Spurs secure a 2-1 victory with a 96th-minute assist for the goalscorer Brennan Johnson.

On having the South Korean back in his side, the Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou said: “Maybe the nation he plays for works against him but I think he’s a world-class player. You look at his record in the Premier League, the toughest league in the world, his goal contributions irrespective of how the team’s gone through the time he’s been here have always been right up there.

“Even this year, before he left, I think he was probably the best attacking player in the competition, just my opinion obviously. Certainly he’d be up there. He’s a world-class player. I thought we did well to cover his absence. [Richarlison] obviously stepped up in terms of goal threat, and a few other players, but to have a world-class player for the run-in is brilliant for us.”

Tottenham fell behind in the 17th minute after Micky van de Ven’s challenge in the box was awarded as a penalty for the visitors, which Pascal Gross converted. The hosts rallied in the second-half and equalised through Pape Matar Sarr before the late winner.

“It maybe looks simple, but that ball that Sonny plays, that’s a world-class player in a clutch moment, finds the right pass, you can’t do that if you can’t bring him on, if it’s somebody else,” Postecoglou said. – Guardian