00:06The best player in the history of Asian football is Son Heung-min.
00:15AFC Asian International Player of the Year a record seven times,
00:21the South Korean has spent 15 years at the highest level of club football in Germany and England.
00:29His pace and trickery marked him out as a dangerous young winger.
00:34And as his career progressed, he added goals to his repertoire,
00:38peaking in 2022 with the Premier League Golden Boot.
00:43Not only that, but his goals are often spectacular,
00:47with one memorable effort against Burnley honoured with the Push Gas Award in 2020.
00:53For me this goal is really, really special.
00:56I think especially this kind of goals, I like to dribble, I like to score goals.
01:02So this kind of goal is for me really, really special.
01:05Son possesses the perfect attributes for an elite footballer.
01:09Prodigious talent, an unceasing work ethic and incredible self-belief.
01:15What elevates him to the top of even that cohort is his leadership.
01:22Captain of his country since 2019 and of his club since 2024,
01:28Son has helped raise the standard of those around him.
01:31He mixes in all the little groups you have in there,
01:35invariably in a large group of people.
01:37And I don't think it's just because he's popular.
01:40I think people respect him and what he's done in the game
01:44and he's got a certain standing in the game.
01:46And that standing was finally rewarded in 2025 when, at the age of 32,
01:53a major trophy was added to his CV, the Europa League, with Tottenham Hotspur.
02:00June come true, 100%.
02:01And I believed it from day one that we can win the Europa League.
02:08And today's the final day that happens.
02:10And more than happy, luckiest guy, happiest guy in the world.
02:14I stay here around 10 years because I want to win the trophy because nobody done it.
02:21So maybe it's the hardest way, but maybe it's the wrong way.
02:24I don't care because I want to do these things, you know.
02:27And I'm the type who always want to have challenges.
02:30And today, I think before the season started,
02:35nobody believed we were going to win the Europa League, but we did it.
02:38And as a captain of the club, so, so proud of this team
02:43and proud of the players and well, well deserve it.
02:50Sohn took the challenging decision to relocate to Germany when he was just 16.
02:55But progress was swift, and he quickly became the youngest Bundesliga goalscorer in Hamburg's storied history.
03:04Bayer Leverkusen broke their transfer record to acquire his services.
03:09Then just two years later, Spurs made him the most expensive Asian player in football history.
03:17Living up to top billing,
03:19Son was instrumental in Tottenham's run to the 2019 Champions League final,
03:23forming an irresistible strike partnership with Harry Kane.
03:28And after Kane's departure for Bayern Munich,
03:31Son took on the mantle of captaincy, culminating in glory in Bilbao.
03:36I told them and I didn't believe.
03:41But here we are.
03:45And we're here because of this unbelievable group of people, players and staff,
03:52absolute heroes, led by the legend, Son Jumin.
04:02Despite Son's presence, South Korea have failed to secure any silverware in recent years.
04:11They have qualified for every World Cup since 1986.
04:15But at the three tournaments in which Son has featured,
04:18the Taeguk Warriors have won a total of two matches.
04:25Four visits to the Asian Cup has delivered only one final appearance for the regional force.
04:31And that ended in an extra time defeat to Australia in 2015.
04:36Australia's coach that night,
04:38the man who later described Son as a legend, Ange Postacoglu.
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