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▒ Category
[Awards Review]
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▶ Son: It's a big honour to reach 50 goals for Korea Republic
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[2024/11/24 ]
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A young Son Heungmin wasn’t renowned for goals. His latest in FIFA World Cup 26 qualifying made him just the third man to reach 50 goals for Korea Republic.
Son Heungmin never imagined it could happen. He scored only seven goals in his first 36 internationals. Reaching 50 was a pipe dream.
 The same was once said about a man who has 133 and counting. Cristiano Ronaldo, indeed, netted just 12 times in his first 40 games for Portugal. The pride of Funchal started working rigorously on his finishing in the lead-up to the 2006 FIFA World Cup™, and the results have been mind-blowing.
Son idolised Ronaldo and adhered to his practice-makes-perfect mindset. He trained and trained and trained step-overs until he became one of the trick’s best exponents. He famously kept a ball in the air for four hours straight in order to enhance his control.
In 2014, as Ronaldo was celebrating a half-century for Portugal, Son began working on his shots. He duly finished 2015 with nine goals in 12 matches for Korea Republic – comfortably his best annual return.
Today he netted his ninth goal of 2024. It took him on to on to the figure he once considered unreachable. It made him the third man to register 50 goals for Korea Republic after Hwang Sunhong (50) and Cha Bumkun (58).
“To have an opportunity like this is something I feel grateful for,” said Son. “I came back from an injury and was able to score thanks to my team-mates. It’s such a big honour to score 50 goals for Korea Republic, but it’s more important that we won today.”
The 3-1 success in Kuwait, aided by Son winning and dispatching a penalty, propelled Korea Republic on to 13 points from a possible 15 at the top of Group B in Asian qualifying for FIFA World Cup 26™.
“Winning always makes me happy,” said the Tottenham Hotspur attacker. “This is the result of our hard work on a daily basis.
“Many people thought this would be an easy win, but the world gives you nothing for free. This was the result of our hard work.”
Work is the watchword for Son. It has taken him, just like it did his idol, into a select bracket of men to have hit 50 international goals. Who could have imagined that in 2015?
- The origianl text resource is from FIFA Official Website |
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