Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min made headlines at the close of the Premier League on Sunday, May, 22, when he won the Golden Boot with Liverpool's Mo'Salah. But how did the South Korean rise to stardom?
Son Heung-min made his debut in Bundesliga's Hamburger SV at 16, in the summer of 2010. In 2013, he moved to Bayer Leverkusen before signing for Tottenham for Ksh 2 billion in 2015, making him Asian most expensive player in history.
On Sunday, May 22, Son entered history books again as the first Asian player to win the Premier League's Golden Boot after ending the 2021/22 EPL season with 23 goals.
The South Korean captain scored twice in Tottenham's 5-0 win at Norwich on the final day making him tie with Liverpool's Mo Salah, who scored one goal in the Reds' 3-1 victory over Wolves.
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Notably, none of Son's 23 goals were from penalty kicks while five of his Egyptian co-winner were penalty shots.
The Tottenham forward scored his two goals at Norwich using his right foot which close observers regard stronger than his left. In the season Son netted 12 left-footed goals making them more than the right-footed goals by one goal.
Son's award makes South Korea the 13th nation to win the coveted Premier League Golden Boot, after England, Holland, France, Argentina, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Bulgaria, Gabon, Portugal, Senegal, Uruguay, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Son could not hide his excitement after being presented the award which as he confessed in an after-match presser didn't see the award coming.
"I can't believe it. I got really emotional. I dreamed of it as a child. "It's really heavy, I wasn't expecting that. It was a great, great day for me." confessed the 29-year-old.
"Until my goal, I was really frustrated that I missed big chances. I told the players I missed the easiest chances and scored one of the toughest ones. I didn't give up.
"I wanted to score today. The team helped me a lot at half-time. They wanted to help me, you could see it today." stated Son commending his teammates for his win.
Tottenham's finished in the fourth position with 2 points ahead of Arsenal and earned them the Champions League group stage qualification for next season.
The 29-year-old Son also lauded Spurs boss Antonio Conte for his role in helping the team get to the Champion's league.
"Conte gives us so many different things. Before he came here nobody believed we'd reach the Champions League," he stated.