Tottenham captain Heung-min Son says his return to the club game is helping “heal the pain” of South Korea’s Asian Cup exit, and told fans that Spurs want to achieve “something special” in the run-in.
Son inspired Spurs to a 2-1 win over Brighton on Saturday. The striker came off the bench to deliver a superb pass for Brennan Johnson to score in the sixth and final minute of stoppage time.
Son missed a month of club football at the Asian Cup, but Jurgen Klinsmann’s charges overcame relegation in the semi-finals to beat tournament runners-up Jordan in the final.
“It’s not nice to talk about the tournament again,” Son told Standard Sport. “It’s really hard to accept, but it’s part of football. It really hurts, but the way to heal is to play football again, which makes me smile again – like on Saturday.
“We can’t make any promises, but we’ll do our best to make it special.” [HEUNG-MIN SON]
“Obviously I came back very quickly to help the team. I want to be part of the team. We had a great result [against Brighton].”
The result put Spurs back in the top four ahead of home games against Wolves and Crystal Palace.
Son added: “I just want to help the team as much as I can and I want to enjoy playing for the manager and with my teammates, but at the end of the season we’ll see.
“There are only a few months left of the season, but we don’t want to talk about the future yet. As I’ve always said, I want to give the best I can, as a team, what I can, and we’ll see where that takes us. We can’t make any promises, but we will do our best to make it something special.”
Brighton took the lead through Pascal Gross’s first-half penalty but Pape Sarr equalised on the hour mark and Ange Postecoglou sent on Son, Johnson and Yves Bissouma immediately after the equaliser.
Johnson says Son has been “unbelievable” since joining the club in the summer and believes few players could have delivered for him to win the game.
“He’s been unbelievable with me,” Johnson said. “Because he plays in a similar position, he understands the pressures that come with it. When I had tough moments, he always talked to me, always gave me a hug and encouraged me. He only wishes me the best and when I scored I was very happy.
“He is a world-class player. I don’t think he needs me to tell anyone how good he is because he’s been proving that for ten years at Tottenham. Everybody knows how good he is when he plays with both feet.
“I don’t think there are many players in the world who can pass on my left foot and give me a free goal. That speaks for itself. It just shows his quality. He wasn’t on the pitch too long today and didn’t have too many chances to play that ball. It was the first one he had and he put it on a plate for me.”
That goal was Johnson’s second off the bench in three games since the £47.5million transfer from Nottingham Forest began his spell at Spurs.
“I don’t think anyone has ever seen me at my best,” he said. “I’ve had to adapt and take my time, but there have definitely been times in the season when I’ve not been at my best. Now I’m just trying to keep going, keep working on the training field because I know I can improve there. I hope I can continue to do that.”