The way Son Heung-min tells it, he was 10 years old and squabbling with his older brother, Heung-yun. Then something happened that has stayed with him.
The Tottenham forward’s father, Son Woong-jung, was a former professional footballer who made it to a good level in South Korea, and he had begun to coach his boys, making it his mission to guide them to the top, avoiding the pitfalls he encountered. On this occasion, he saw red and, to borrow the word Son uses, decided to impose a forfeit.
“He gave us four hours of keepy-uppies,” Son says. “Both of us. After about three hours, I was seeing three balls. The floor was red [through bloodshot eyes]. I was so tired. And he was so angry. I think this was the best story and we still talk about it when we are all together. Four hours keeping the ball up and you don’t drop it. That’s difficult, no?”
Wait, what? Son did not let the ball hit the ground? In four hours? As a 10-year-old? “No,” he says. Impossible! Son’s gaze is steely. “No, not once,” he replies.
The story advertises several things – Son’s natural talent, among them. “As soon as I could walk, I was kicking a ball,” he says. But what shines through and has underpinned his rise, to the point where he can be considered as the pre-eminent player in Asia, is his readiness to respond to the demands of his father. That, and his extraordinary levels of focus and dedication.
Son recounts another tale that features his father and keepy-uppy punishments. “When I was 10 or 12, he came in to coach my school team and we were training, 15 or 20 players. The programme was for us all to keep the balls up for 40 minutes. When someone dropped the ball, my father would not say anything. But as soon as I dropped it, he made us all start over from the beginning. The players understood, because I was his son and, yeah, it was tough. But when you think about it now, this was the right way.”
It is tempting to pigeonhole Son’s father as a remorseless disciplinarian, and wonder whether his drive affected the relationship between the pair. It would be wrong to do so – the reality is Son has nothing but admiration and respect for him. “Was he a strict coach?” Son says. “Yeah. Scary, as well.” Yet the tone is affectionate. In Korean society, a father’s word tends to be law. Son has followed it; he has embraced it.
“My father was thinking of what I needed all the time. He has done everything for me and without him, I probably wouldn’t be where I am today. As a player, you need some help. It’s also important to meet a great manager and then there’s luck, too. Everything has come together for me.”
It has been a remarkable nine months or so for Son, beginning at the World Cup last year, when South Korea were eliminated from the group stage after defeats against Sweden and Mexico but went on to beat Germany in their final match. After the Mexico game, the 26-year-old sobbed uncontrollably when the South Korea president, Moon Jae-in, visited the dressing room.
Son would win the Asian Games as an overage wildcard player with the South Korea Under-23s at the beginning of the season – earning him an exemption from 21 months of military service – but in January, his team lost unexpectedly in the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup to Qatar.
Son’s fortunes at Spurs have soared since Mauricio Pochettino held him back from the mid-November international programme in favour of club training and, crucially, no travelling. Pochettino was worried Son faced mental and physical burnout. Since then he has scored 14 times in 23 appearances for Spurs, giving him 16 for the season. His performances have been key to the push for a top-four finish and the run to the Champions League quarter-finals.
One statistic from Opta shows Son has scored with 19.3% of his Premier League shots this season, making him more clinical than he has ever been in the competition. It has all served to put him in the conversation for the player of the season awards.