Son Heung-min scores his 150th goal in Europe

An 18-year-old boy from Korea netted a goal against FC Köln‎, wearing Hamburg SV’s uniform on Oct. 31, 2010. With the goal, he became the youngest Korean player to make a debut goal in a First Division game Europe. The boy, who has transformed from “the hope of Korean football” to a “world-class” player, scored his 150th goal in Europe.

In a semifinal match against Brentford in the Carabao Cup on Tuesday local time, Son Heung-min scored a finish in the 70th minute when his team was leading 1-0.

In a counterattack, Son received a rough pass from Tanguy Ndombele and raced to add a second with his right foot. Son is tied for second in the Premier League goal ranking, scoring 16 goals this season, including the Carabao Cup and the Europa League. His teammate Harry Kane is in first place with 17 goals. He is in second place in the League with 12 goals after Mohamed Salah (13 goals) of Liverpool.

After scoring his 100th goal for Tottenham against Leeds United on Jan. 2, Son scored for two games in a row to reach the 150-goal mark in Europe. It is a feat achieved 11 years and 410 matches after he joined Hamburg in the German Bundesliga in 2010. Son scored 20 goals in 78 matches for Hamburg, 29 goals in 87 matches for Leverkusen, and 101 goals in 254 matches for Tottenham.

Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho said after the game that Son has fantastic abilities, adding some players are not but the team comes first to Son Heung-min. He went on to praise Son, saying he is a special player and a special person.

Tottenham, which reached the Carabao Cup final in six years after the 2014-15 season, has one more win to go in order to claim its fifth Carabao Cup after the 2007-08 season. It lost to Chelsea 0-2 in the 2014-15 final. Mourinho won the League Cup on four occasions as a manager for Chelsea and Manchester United.


hun@donga.com