The 31-year-old returns to the scene of his first appearance at the continental championship and to where he scored his first goal in his nation’s colours, after coming off the bench to strike in a 4-1 group stage win over India back in 2011.
That campaign ended at the semi-final stage for the Koreans and while the nation’s continental drought has continued, Son has flourished to become one of Asian football’s best known faces.
Son was only 18 when he played in Qatar and was steadily making a name for himself at Hamburg in the Bundesliga before Bayer Leverkusen broke their own transfer record to sign him in 2013.
It was while at Leverkusen that Son returned to the AFC Asian Cup in 2015, leading the team to the final, where he scored an injury time equaliser against hosts Australia to take the game into extra-time. But the title was to elude the Taeguk Warriors once again.
Six months after the heartbreak of that loss, Son was on his travels again, signing for Tottenham Hotspur, where his form has established him as one of the best known players in world football.
He was integral to the Mauricio Pochettino side that finished as Premier League runners-up in 2018 and who reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League the following season.
He also participated in Korea Republic’s involvement in the AFC Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates in 2019, a run that ended with defeat against eventual champions Qatar in the quarter-finals.
The goal-scoring winger’s club career continued to blossom, however, and in the 2021-22 season he became the first Asian player to finish as top scorer in the Premier League, an honour he shared with Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah.
Son has tasted success at Asian level, playing an integral part in his nation’s gold medal win at the Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018, but leading Korea Republic to a first AFC Asian Cup title in more than 60 years would cement his legacy once and for all.
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