Tottenham star Son Heung-min shows true colours ahead of return to Spurs action

07 February 2024 , 08:35

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Son Heung-min was devastated after South Korea were knocked out of the Asian Cup (Image: Twitter/beIN SPORTS)

A devastated Son Heung-min insisted he had "no regrets" after South Korea were knocked out of the Asian Cup after a shock loss in the semi-finals to Jordan.

South Korea were among the favourites to lift the trophy when the tournament started, with Jurgen Klinsmann's side boasting an array of top talent including Son, Bayern Munich's Kim Min-Jae and Paris Saint-Germain's Lee Kang-in.

However, they were beaten 2-0 by Jordan in the semi-finals on Tuesday thanks to goals from Yazan Al-Naimat and Musa Al-Taamari. Both goals came after Jordan ruthlessly capitalised on errors, while Son had a goal disallowed for offside and South Korea were given a penalty only for the decision to be overturned by VAR.

And a visibly emotional Son admitted after the game that he "gave everything" for South Korea and vowed that their squad would learn from their mistakes and "look forwards because there is no time to regret".

He told beIN SPORTS : "I'm very disappointed and devastated about this result. Jordan are having an amazing journey this tournament. It's incredible and they deserve it, they fought until the end and for us it was a very, very disappointing night."

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When asked where things went wrong for South Korea, Son replied: "It's from our mistakes. We had a couple of chances that hit the post and right before half-time we had a chance to score and we missed it.

"Obviously Jordan had a lot of chances in the first half and we were a little bit nervous. The guys didn't want to make mistakes, which I totally understand. We still have quite a young and inexperienced team and I think we have to learn from these kinds of mistakes.

South Korea were beaten 2-0 by Jordan in the semi-finals (Markus Gilliar - GES Sportfoto/Getty Images)

"We have to look forwards because there is no time to regret and I wish Jordan all the best. It was very, very difficult and I have no regrets. I gave everything to be honest and it was a really, really tough competition.

"Asian football is going higher and it's always going to be hard games. Today was a tough challenge again, so now I have to go back to my club and be ready for the rest of the season."

The Asian Cup does not have a third-place play-off match and Son will now return to Premier League action with Tottenham. The forward could conceivably feature when Spurs host Brighton on February 10, but if that is deemed too soon then he will likely return against Wolves on February 17.

Matthew Cooper