South Korea breathes sigh of relief after Son Heung-min ends ‘silence’

Son Heung-min’s spectacular 13-minute hat-trick against Leicester on Saturday ended his eight-game barren run, or ‘silence’ as it was called in South Korea. As those Tottenham matches came and went without a goal, the mood back in east Asia grew ever gloomier, becoming darkest just before the Seoul dawn last week when the forward was substituted in the 2-0 defeat against Sporting in Lisbon.

However much was said in England about a dry patch that felt longer because it stretched from the start of the season, the conversation was louder in the Land of the Morning Calm. With the Taeguk Warriors’ hopes of a place in the knockout stages in Qatar looking to depend largely on Son’s form and fitness, worries were understandable but it could be that some bench time for the megastar would not have been the worst thing for South Korea’s World Cup hopes.

The last time the 30-year-old arrived at Incheon International Airport was in May when he held the Premier League golden boot aloft for adoring fans and excited photographers. The three goals at the weekend mean that, when he steps off the plane from London to play in warm-ups against Costa Rica on Friday and Cameroon four days later, it is less likely that he will receive the kind of questions that were fielded by the national team coach, Paulo Bento, last week when the Portuguese was asked about his captain. “There is no concern and I feel the same as when he’s scoring a lot,” Bento said. “We will focus on what we must do in these two games and I have all the confidence in him as usual. I do not intend to talk to him about it.”

Perhaps there should be a conversation in South Korea. These past few weeks have highlighted how one player dominates the national team landscape to an