AFP, Jakarta :
Son Heung-min has lit up the World Cup and the Premier League but unnervingly it is the Asian Games in Indonesia that could make or break the career of the prolific South Korean forward.
Anything less than gold and Son, 26, faces a compulsory stint of nearly two years’ military service – a severe blow to the player, his national team and his club, Tottenham Hotspur.
Son bade farewell to his Spurs team-mates after Saturday’s season-opening win at Newcastle and flew some 7,000 miles (12,000 km) to Jakarta for Asia’s regional Olympics, under a special deal brokered with the club.
As Asia’s all-time Premier League top-scorer, and a huge celebrity in his home country, he will undoubtedly be the Asian Games football tournament’s biggest star.
But more than national glory is at stake as nearly every able-bodied South Korean male – regardless of wealth or fame – is required to enrol by age 28 in the military, for a minimum of 21 months.
Son is banking on the defending champions earning him a rare reprieve only permitted for elite sportsmen such as Olympic or World Cup medallists.
At the Asian Games, only gold will be sufficient to avoid the call-up.
Son Heung-min has lit up the World Cup and the Premier League but unnervingly it is the Asian Games in Indonesia that could make or break the career of the prolific South Korean forward.
Anything less than gold and Son, 26, faces a compulsory stint of nearly two years’ military service – a severe blow to the player, his national team and his club, Tottenham Hotspur.
Son bade farewell to his Spurs team-mates after Saturday’s season-opening win at Newcastle and flew some 7,000 miles (12,000 km) to Jakarta for Asia’s regional Olympics, under a special deal brokered with the club.
As Asia’s all-time Premier League top-scorer, and a huge celebrity in his home country, he will undoubtedly be the Asian Games football tournament’s biggest star.
But more than national glory is at stake as nearly every able-bodied South Korean male – regardless of wealth or fame – is required to enrol by age 28 in the military, for a minimum of 21 months.
Son is banking on the defending champions earning him a rare reprieve only permitted for elite sportsmen such as Olympic or World Cup medallists.
At the Asian Games, only gold will be sufficient to avoid the call-up.
