Son Heung-min makes Harry Kane demand to Spurs teammates ahead of January exit
Son Heung-min has told his Tottenham “family” to step up when he is on Asia Cup duty - just like he did when Harry Kane was out.
The Spurs captain netted his 13th goal of the campaign against Bournemouth before heading off on international duty. South Korea’s first game is on January 15 in Qatar - with the final on February 10.
Starting with Friday’s FA Cup tie with Burnley, Son could miss up to five Tottenham matches. Since the £100m summer departure of Kane, Son has become the new talisman of a team starting the New Year in fifth place.
And Son said: “I hope people can step up when I am away. They are my family and my teammates. I hope they can score as many goals as possible. I feel like when Harry was here and he was missing some games with injuries, I felt like I needed to step up in previous years.
"I hope our players feel this kind of feeling that they need to step up for this kind of situation. In this situation you grow as a player and a human being. Richy (Richarlison) is doing a fantastic job, I hope he is hungry for more goals, also Deki (Dejan Kulusevski) and Brennan (Johnson). I hope everybody who is playing attacking positions can score as many goals as possible and bring us to a better position. I wish it more than anything else.”
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Son also noted a change in attitude under Ange Postecoglou. “Everybody is taking a big responsibility,” he added. “It is a big credit when compared to the last couple of years.
The New Year’s Eve win against Bournemouth - and Arsenal ’s defeat at Fulham - sees Spurs start 2024 just a point behind their North London rivals. “Everybody is very close in the title race but we don't really want to talk about it because there are still 20 games to play and we're still missing many important players,” Son said.
Son Heung-Min has demanded his attacking colleagues step up in his absence (Getty Images)Are Tottenham in the title race? Share your thoughts in the comments below
“We're going to focus on ourselves and game by game give everything. We try not to focus on any other teams, approach it looking for better football and better mentality and then we'll see what happens at the end of the season. Focus on ourselves, not look at the table and just see what happens.
Senegal’s Pape Matar Sarr’s participation in the African Nations Cup will depend on the severity of his hamstring strain while Mali’s Yves Bissouma, who is currently banned, will also be missing in January. But the return of Rodrigo Bentancur after the Uruguayan suffered ankle ligament damage in November was a rare bit of good selection news for Ange Postecoglou.
“It was great to see him out there again and he gives the whole group a lift,” said the Aussie. “He is a warrior."
Goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario added: “He's a beast, he was suffering a lot after the two injuries and wanted to bounce back as soon as he could. He knew that we needed him and wanted to come back as soon as he could.”
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