2024-08-01 16:44:53
Tottenham Hotspur of the English Premier League (EPL) defeated Team K League thanks to Son Heung-min’s multi-goal performance.
Tottenham Hotspur won 4-3 in the first match of the Coupang Play Series against Team K-League held at Seoul World Cup Stadium on the 31st, led by multiple goals from Son Heung-min.
Tottenham, who visited Korea again after two years since beating Team K League 6-3 in 2022, showed off their hot attacking power in front of domestic fans on this day as well. 63,395 spectators gathered at the stadium and enjoyed a football festival where both teams scored a combined 7 goals.
In the beginning, Team K-League showed its strength. Yang Min-hyeok (Gangwon), who is expected to join Tottenham, and Daejeon’s rookie Yoon Do-young, ‘two high school K-League players’, flashed their bright individual breakthroughs from the beginning.
Yang Min-hyeok was unstoppable even in front of EPL regular defenders such as Emerson Royal.
However, as Team K-League failed to score early, Tottenham took the lead. At the center of this was Son Heung-min. Son Heung-min troubled Team K-League with bold left-handed breakthroughs from the beginning.
The first goal also started with Son Heung-min’s attack. In the 28th minute of the first half, Son Heung-min’s shot was blocked by goalkeeper Jo Hyeon-woo, but Dejan Kulusevski pushed it in again to score the first goal.
Tottenham continued to create threatening moments, such as Lucas Berival’s shot hitting the goalpost in the 35th minute of the first half and Pedro Porro’s decisive shot going just over the crossbar.
In the 38th minute of the first half, Son Heung-min took matters into his own hands this time. Son Heung-min used his signature speed to break through from the left side, then cut inside and shot into the corner of the goal with an exquisite curling shot from the ‘Son Heung-min zone’. It was a goal that contained all of Son Heung-min’s strengths.
Son Heung-min, who was in the flow, scored another goal before the end of the first half. In the first half’s added time, he completely got past a defender and scored a goal with a calm shot from a one-on-one chance with the goalkeeper, scoring multiple goals.
Son Heung-min, who scored multiple goals in the first match against Team K League in 2022, was on fire from the first half of the day, scoring goals. Tottenham took a 3-0 lead in the first half, led by Son Heung-min’s performance.
In the second half, Team K League also showed its strength.
Team K League, which only had domestic players in the first half, brought in foreign players such as Iljutcenko (Seoul), Cesinha (Daegu), and Anderson (Suwon FC) in the second half, and this was effective.
In the 7th minute of the second half, when Jung Jae-hee’s shot bounced off the goalkeeper in a counterattack situation, Iljutchenko pushed it back to score a comeback goal. Just 3 minutes later, the two combined again to score a goal. In the 10th minute of the second half, Team K-League went on a counterattack again, and Iljutchenko connected with a diving header from Jung Jae-hee’s cross, scoring multiple goals and closing the gap to one goal in one breath.
Son Heung-min was substituted after playing for 18 minutes and 63 minutes in the second half, handing over the captain’s armband to James Maddison.
After that, the two teams fought fiercely. Tottenham used a large number of substitute players to attack, and Team K-League counterattacked with Anderson and Jung Jae-hee.
When Tottenham Hotspur went ahead 4-2 in the 23rd minute of the second half with a goal by Will Lancsheer, who was called up from the U20 team, Team K League chased them again in the 36th minute of the second half with a mid-range shot by Oberdan (Pohang). Oberdan imitated Son Heung-min’s ‘click’ celebration.
A fierce battle of ‘one goal battles’ continued until the end, but neither team was able to score an additional goal, and the match ended with Tottenham’s 4-3 victory.
(Seoul = News 1)
2024-08-01 16:44:53