Why Captain Son's body gag does not look just funny.

South Korea\'s Son Heung-min warms up with his teammates after passing the ball at the Al Egla training center in Doha, Qatar, on Sunday (Nov. 27) ahead of the 2023 Asian Cup round of 16 match against Saudi Arabia. Yonhap News

After a shocking 3-3 draw against Malaysia in the final group match at the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup in Qatar on January 25, Korea’s national footballers have been in lowest spirits. Even if the match was played after securing a ticket to the round of 16, the Korean footballers had to be criticized by fans for their poor performance. Ahead of the round of 16 match against Saudi Arabia, it seemed important to raise the morale of the players as much as their performance.

Captain Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur is the man to do it, and his secret weapon was a body gag. Son was the first to enter the pitch and diligently move to boost the mood in the training session that resumed on January 27 (local time) after taking a day off from the match against Malaysia. He joked with goalkeeper Song Bum-geun of Shonan Bellmare by spraying him with water and then jumped into the water, making people laugh.

The captain also turned into a goalkeeper and again made people laugh. He stood in front of a mini goal post and blocked the shots of Jung Woo-young of VfB Stuttgart and Oh Hyun-kyu of Celtic F.C. and fell down with exaggerated body movements and ridiculous facial expressions to block a shot by Hwang Hee-chan of Wolverhampton Wanderers which came toward his head.

The younger Korean footballers are well aware of the captain’s efforts to lighten the mood by doing silly behaviors. Oh Hyun-kyu said on the 28th, "Son talks about positive things to motivate us and keeps the atmosphere from sagging by doing body gags.” A team official said, “Actually, after the match against Malaysia, the team mood was very bad, but now it's definitely much better.”

Son shows his dignity as a captain by displaying leadership at the right time and place. He is also a friendly senior at the training field, a cool-headed commander on the ground, and a serious negotiator when doing interviews with reporters At a press conference held immediately after the match against Malaysia, he directly mentioned the criticism that went too far against a specific player, saying, "I hope you have a little more respect for the players. I earnestly ask reporters and football fans not to be too harsh for us.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.