Son has most goals as S. Korean per season in European league

Son Heung-min set a new record for most goals by a South Korean player in a season in a European league. The previous record set by Cha Bum-kun, a former manager of the South Korean national team, was broken in 36 years.

Son led his team to a 3-1 win with two goals and one assist at a home game against Leicester City in the English Premier League 2021-2022 season. Son scored his 18th and 19th goals of the season and became a new South Korean record holder for most goals in a season in a European league by breaking Cha’s record of 17 goals in the 1985-1986 season while playing for Bayer 04 Leverkusen in Germany’s Bundesliga. It has been 11 years since Son debuted in the primary European league in the 2010-2011 season as part of Hamburger SV of Bundesliga.

At the 15th-minute mark of the second half, with Tottenham Hotspur leading the game 1-0, Son found a net with his left foot near the goal area of the opponent. He again scored with his left foot in the right side of the opponent’s penalty area at the 34th-minute mark of the second half with a score of 2-0. Local commentators repeatedly said unbelievable when the goal found the net. Son’s teammate Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg was caught on camera holding his head in his arms in amazement at Son’s successful shooting. A football statistics site WhoScored.com gave an average score of 9.8 to Son while all other players in both teams did not earn a score higher than eight, which demonstrates how phenomenal Son’s performance was.

“The team is most important. We want to finish in the Champions League and I want to play in the Champions League,” said Son after the game. “The Golden Boot is always a dream.”


Jae-Yeong Yoo elegant@donga.com