Son scores 20th goal this season in the EPL

Son Heung-min (age 30, Tottenham) scored 20th goal of the season, the first for an Asian player in the five major leaves in European football. It is the first time in 12 years since Son’s debut in Bundesliga in Hamburg, Germany in 2010.

Son scored his 20th goal for the season league 11 minutes into the second half of the match with Liverpool on Sunday at the English Premiere League game for 2021-2022. Son is the first Asian player to score 20 goals in the five main European football leagues: Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga and League 1. Son, who scored his 18th and 19th goals with the Leicester City match on May 1, broke the record of former Korea National Team director Cha Bum-gun, who played for Bundesliga Leverkusen from 1985 to 1986, who had scored the highest number of goals as a Korean player.

If Son adds one more goal to his achievements in the remaining three matches for the rest of the season, he will be tied for the title of scoring the highest number of goals in the League 1 as an Asian player. Alireza Jahanbakhsh, attacking midfielder of Iran National Football Team, scored 21 goals in the 2017-2018 season playing for Eredivisie of the Netherlands, becoming the first Asian player to become the top goalscorer in a top-level European league.

Son, who is currently ranked second as goalscorer in the English Premier League, narrowed gap with Mohamed Salah (age 30, 22 goals) of Liverpool, who did not score in the match with Son on that day.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com