Son Heung-min struggles at Goodison Park

Son Heung-min, the South Korean winger of the Tottenham Hotspur, joined the starting 11 against Everton F.C. for the 2021-22 Premier League game on Sunday before he was replaced in the 40th minute of the latter half. The Korean failed to make any shot on target owing to the heavy defense from the hosts. Tied 0-0, Tottenham were ranked in the 9th with 5-1-5.

Son struggled at Goodison Park on the day. He failed to earn a proper chance to find the net, and whenever he had the ball, he had to suffer jeers from the legion of some 39,000 Everton fans packing their home stadium. Football London said Son was “jeered practically every time he had the ball.” The hostility was a little bit too much even for an away match. The booing got worse when the referee called off a penalty shot for Everton after a VAR reading in the 18th minute of the second half. In fact, it is no stretch to label Son as Everton’s archenemy.

At the very same stadium, Son got the red card for his tackle on Andre Gomes of Everton F.C. on Nov. 4, 2019. He was immediately sidestepped, and Gomes had his right ankle fractured. Son left the stadium crying out of guilt and continued to cry alone in the locker room.

Fortunately, Gomes returned after four months, and he is now on talking terms with Son, but the fans of Everton do not seem to have forgotten about the tackle.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com