Son Heung-min sprains his finger in an argument with his South Korean teammates on the eve of their Asian Cup defeat to Jordan.

On 6 February, Jurgen Klinsmann’s men beat Jordan, 64 places below them in the FIFA rankings, 2-0 in the semi-finals of the competition. The defeat came as a huge shock to Korea and upset Klinsmann, with many calling for his dismissal.

Son’s team failed to get a shot on target against Jordan, so he returned to the Premier League, where he played on the bench in Tottenham’s 2-1 win over Brighton on Saturday. The Koreans performed poorly in Qatar last week, largely because of Klinsmann, but it seems that all was not well in his team.

According to the Sun, Son was involved in a serious argument with some of his teammates on the eve of the game. The captain was reportedly angry that some of the younger players, including Paris Saint-Germain star Lee Kang-in, had eaten food too quickly during a team snack to go and play ping-pong, and he considered their behaviour disrespectful.

Son tried to call them back, but an argument ensued. The players had to be separated and Son allegedly sprained his finger trying to calm everyone down.

The thirty-one-year-old forward had to play the Jordan game with his index and middle fingers on his right hand taped together. When he came off the bench for the Spurs at the weekend, the tape was still there, indicating the severity of the injury.

Speaking after the defeat, Son made no mention of the problems in training camp and defended his teammates. “I don’t know what to say,” he said. “I’m very sorry. The players tried their best. I’m very sorry that the game ended the way it did because of mistakes. The fans showed us a lot of support and I am sorry that we could not live up to the expectations of our fans.

“I will try even harder to make sure that the national team continues to grow in the future. Again, I am very sorry. I am very disappointed. I am devastated by this result. Jordan has had an incredible journey in this tournament. It is unbelievable. They deserve it. They fought until the end. I have no regrets. To be honest, I gave my best. It was a really tough competition.”

Klinsmann has been the most criticised for the Asian Cup, with several politicians speaking out about the German’s future as boss. His negative tactics and the fact that he did not move to South Korea from his home in the United States did not go down well.

However, the 59-year-old German insisted that he would not resign. “I don’t intend to do anything,” he said. “I plan to analyse this tournament, go back to Korea with the team and then talk to the federation about what went well and what didn’t go well in this tournament.”