00:07The best player in the history of Asian football is Son Heung-min.
00:17AFC Asian International Player of the Year a record seven times,
00:22the South Korean has spent 15 years at the highest level of club football
00:26in Germany and England.
00:30His pace and trickery marked him out as a dangerous young winger.
00:35And as his career progressed, he added goals to his repertoire,
00:39peaking in 2022 with the Premier League Golden Boot.
00:45Not only that, but his goals are often spectacular,
00:48with one memorable effort against Burnley honoured with the Push Gas Award in 2020.
00:54For me, this goal is really, really special.
00:57I think especially this kind of goals, I like to dribble, I like to score goals.
01:04So this kind of goal is for me really, really special.
01:07Son possesses the perfect attributes for an elite footballer.
01:11Prodigious talent, an unceasing work ethic and incredible self-belief.
01:17What elevates him to the top of even that cohort is his leadership.
01:23Captain of his country since 2019 and of his club since 2024,
01:29Son has helped raise the standard of those around him.
01:33He mixes in all the little groups you have in there,
01:36invariably in a large group of people.
01:39And I don't think it's just because he's popular.
01:42I think he's, you know, people respect him and what he's done in the game.
01:45And he's got a certain standing in the game.
01:47And that standing was finally rewarded in 2025 when, at the age of 32,
01:54a major trophy was added to his CV, the Europa League, with Tottenham Hotspur.
02:01Dream come true, 100%.
02:03And I believed it from day one that we can win the Europa League.
02:09And today's the final day that happens.
02:12And more than happy, luckiest guy, happiest guy in the world.
02:16I stay here around 10 years because I want to win the trophy because nobody's done it.
02:22So maybe it's the hardest way, but maybe it's the wrong way.
02:25I don't care because I want to do these things, you know.
02:28And I'm the type who always want to have challenges.
02:31And today, I think, before the season started, nobody believed we were going to win the Europa League.
02:39But we did it.
02:40And as a captain of the club, so, so proud of this team and proud of the players.
02:47And well, well deserved it.
02:51Son took the challenging decision to relocate to Germany when he was just 16.
02:56But progress was swift.
02:58And he quickly became the youngest Bundesliga goalscorer in Hamburg's storied history.
03:05Bayer Leverkusen broke their transfer record to acquire his services.
03:10Then just two years later, Spurs made him the most expensive Asian player in football history.
03:18Living up to top billing, Son was instrumental in Tottenham's run to the 2019 Champions League final,
03:25forming an irresistible strike partnership with Harry Kane.
03:29And after Kane's departure for Bayern Munich, Son took on the mantle of captaincy,
03:35culminating in glory in Bilbao.
03:37I told them and I didn't believe.
03:42But here we are.
03:46And we're here because of this unbelievable group of people, players, staff, absolute heroes,
03:56led by the legend, Son Jumin.
04:03Despite Son's presence, South Korea have failed to secure any silverware in recent years.
04:12They have qualified for every World Cup since 1986.
04:16But at the three tournaments in which Son has featured, the Taeguk Warriors have won a total of two matches.
04:26Four visits to the Asian Cup has delivered only one final appearance for the regional force.
04:32And that ended in an extra-time defeat to Australia in 2015.
04:38Australia's coach that night, the man who later described Son as a legend, Ange Postacoglu.
04:47And legend is a fitting tribute.
04:50Nobody else in the history of Asian football has hit such highs.
04:55Few have ever sustained a top-level career for so long.
04:58And to do it all with the expectation that comes with stardom and the burden of leadership makes it all
05:05the more remarkable.
05:07Son Jung-min is a worthy representative of his, and any, football nation.
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