S Korea call up Son Heung-min for Vietnam friendly

Son Heung-min (number 7) plays Vietnam at the 2018 Asian Games. Photo by VnExpress/Hieu Luong

The 31-year-old, also the captain of English club Tottenham Hotspurs, is regarded as the greatest Asian player of all time.

This season he has scored six goals in the English Premier League, only two less than the top scorer, Manchester City's Erling Haaland.

His goals have helped Spurs climb to second place just one point behind Man City.

His goal against Liverpool last Saturday was his 200th for European clubs.

He has 113 caps for South Korea and is 23 games and 21 goals behind legend Cha Bum-kun, who tops both lists.

South Korea have also summoned other stars playing in Europe like defender Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), midfielder Lee Kang-in (PSG) and winger Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton).

The team have 11 players plying their trade in Europe and two in Saudi Arabia.

They will play Vietnam on the 17th and Tunisia five days before that.

After getting eliminated in the round of 16 at the 2022 World Cup, South Korea parted ways with head coach Paulo Bento and appointed Jurgen Klinsmann in his place.

But the German is already under pressure after a series of poor results in friendlies since the start of this year, with only one win coming in six games.

South Korea have played Vietnam six times in the past, winning five and losing one.

Before taking on the South Koreans, Vietnam will play friendlies against China on October 10 and Uzbekistan on the 13th.

These are part of their preparations for the 2026 World Cup second qualifying round in November.