Son Heung-min joins national team training under Klinsmann

Tottenham forward Son Heung-min said that Korean national team players have gained enough confidence to aim further after making it to the round of 16 in the 2022 FIFA World Cup Qatar and that it would be crucial to keep up that momentum during his interview before the national team training session. Son also added that they would be careful not to get overly excited. The training session began on Tuesday at the National Football Center in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.

Son was the national team captain under former head coach Paulo Bento. Whether he will remain as captain under the new leader Klinsmann has not been decided yet. "I need to learn the style requested by the new head coach, and national team players should quickly catch what the head coach wants," Son said. "I am looking forward to teaming up with teammates soon and working together on the kind of aggressive and powerful football style the head coach declared he would implement."

The training session was held in the morning as Klinsmann said he would. His predecessor Bento usually held training sessions in the afternoon. "I like morning training sessions. I can sleep off in the afternoon if I feel tired," Son said. "Many players prefer going on sessions in the morning." Though looking slightly tired, the Korean ace footballer was seen talking smilingly with the new staff and head coach Klinsmann who also played in Tottenham for a year between 1994 and 1995.

Klinsmann will lead the Korean national team through the 2026 FIFA World Cup, hosted jointly by three North American countries, the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. "There were ups and downs during the four years with head coach Bento, but the team could enjoy fruitful results because they trusted each other," Son said. "The coming four years would not all be smooth sailing, but it would be important that the team and the staff stick together and stay strong."

A total of 21 national footballers joined the closed training session on Tuesday morning, while four additional players – Min-jae Kim (Napoli), Kang-in Lee (Mallorca), Jae-sung Lee (Mainz), and Woo-young Jeong (Freiburg) - will be arriving in Paju on Wednesday to join the session. Team Korea will move to Ulsan after the morning training session on the day to face Team Colombia as its first A-Match opponent since the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.


hun@donga.com