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 in Germany
00:28and England. His pace and trickery marked him out as a dangerous young winger.
00:35And as his career progressed, he added goals to his repertoire, peaking in 2022 with the Premier League
00:43golden boot. Not only that, but his goals are often spectacular, with one memorable effort
00:50against Burnley honoured with the Push Gas Award in 2020.
00:54For me this goal is really, really special, but I think especially this kind of goals.
01:01I like to dribble, I like to score goals, so 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, invariably in a large group of people and
01:40I don't think it's just because he's popular. I think he's, you know, people respect him and
01:44what he's done in the game and he's got a certain standing in the game.
01:48And 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.
02:01The dream come true, 100%, and I believed it from day one that we can win the Europa League.
02:10And today's the final day that happens and 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, and I'm the type who always want to
02:30have
02:31challenges. And today, I think before the season started, nobody believed we're going to win the
02:38Europa League, but we did it. And as a captain of the club, so, so proud of this team and
02:44proud of
02:45the players and well, well deserve it.
02:51Son took the challenging decision to relocate to Germany when he was just 16.
02:57But progress was swift and he quickly became the youngest Bundesliga goalscorer
03:02in 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
03:14Asian 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.
03:38I told them and I didn't believe.
03:42But here we are.
03:47And we're here because of this unbelievable group of
03:51people, players and staff, absolute heroes,
03:56players, led 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,
04:20the 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
05:02and the burden of leadership makes it all the more remarkable.
05:08Son Jung-min is a worthy representative of his, and any, football nation.
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