Son’s football boots sold for 16 million won at auction

The football boots of Tottenham forward Son Heung-min worn when Team Korea won against Iran in 11 years have been sold at a charity auction for 16 million won.

The Korea Football Association held an auction of the national team's collections to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup at the northern square of Seoul World Cup Stadium on Monday. It announced that Son’s autographed football boots were sold for 16 million won at the auction.

The captain of the Korean national football team wore the soccer shoes in the final qualifying match for the 2022 Qatar World Cup against Iran, which was held at the Seoul World Cup Stadium on March 24. In the match, Son scored the first goal and led the team to a 2-0 victory. It was Korea's first victory in 11 years against Iran. On the side of the soccer shoes, Son's handwritten autograph was also displayed.

The winner of the bid was Lee Jae-ho (24), a college student. "I discussed with my father before joining the auction. He agreed by saying that ‘it can be a family heirloom,’” Lee said. "It's much better to participate in the auction for these football boots than to spend tens of millions of won on home renovation for my family’s plan to move. I added my savings to my father’s money to make 16 million won.”

All of the items worn by Son were sold for high prices at auctions before. In February 2021, Tottenham held an auction that put up the boots worn by Son in the 2-0 victory over Arsenal in December. The boots started at 90,000 won and eventually sold for about 21 million won. On the charity auction held on Sunday, the national team uniform autographed by Son Heung-min was also sold for 6.5 million won.

The proceeds from the charity auction, which 10 players including Son participated, will be donated under their names to build Korean National Football Center in Cheonan.


Dong-Wook Kim creating@donga.com