“Captain” Son Heung-min (Tottenham) showed the captain’s dignity of respecting and praising the opposing team despite the regret of finishing the last A match in 2024.
South Korea’s national soccer team (22nd in FIFA rankings), led by head coach Hong Myung-bo, tied 1-1 with Palestine (100th) in the sixth Group B match of the third Asian qualifying round for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in Amman, Jordan, on the 19th.
South Korea, which lost face by drawing with Palestine without scoring at the Seoul World Cup Stadium in September, sought to restore its pride through victory, but failed. However, it maintained its lead in Group B with four wins, two draws and 14 points, while Palestine was not out of the bottom with three draws and three losses (three points).
South Korea lost the ball in the 12th minute of the first half when Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich) failed to grasp the opponent’s striker’s movement and played a back pass to goalkeeper Cho Hyun-woo (Ulsan), and Zeid Quinbar, who intercepted it, shook the net and took the lead. 온라인바카라
South Korea balanced 1-1 when Son Heung-min, who received Lee Jae-sung’s non-stop pass, scored an equalizer in the 15th minute of the first half.
With this score, Son scored his 51st A-match goal, ranking second in the men’s national team score category, beating Hwang Sun-hong, coach of Daejeon Hana Citizen (50 goals). The top scorer is Cha Bum-keun, former coach of the national team (58 goals).
“First of all, I am so grateful as a captain that my teammates played well for the past year,” Son said in an interview after the match. “Today’s game was not easy. I want to applaud (the players). I think there is something we need to learn from them as they are doing their best in a difficult situation (due to disputes).”
Son Heung-min continued, “I’m sorry I didn’t win today, but I hope I can prepare well for the upcoming game and see (the fans) with good results next year.”