Son Heung-min, a winger for Tottenham Hotspur, is a global soccer player praised for his efforts and success with his accurate shootings and skilled footwork. He has greatly contributed to Tottenham’s victories with his outstanding shootings, especially during the Premier League matches. Unfortunately, during one of them against Aston Villa on Feb. 16, he fractured his right elbow after crashing with his opponent, Ezri Consa. His injury led to great disappointment and concerns from his fans and his team for his absence would not be a minor problem.
“Son Heung-min is such an important player in Tottenham,” said Riwon Ahn (10), who enjoys watching Premier League matches. “It is unfortunate that he will not be able to participate in some of the future matches. Of course, the fans are worried about the injury itself, but the bigger problem lies in positioning the players without Son. I hope he recovers quickly and returns soon.”
Son was injured after only about 50 seconds into the game. When he crashed into Consa, he fell down on his right elbow, and he was later spotted heading to the locker room with his medical staff. Although his injury was not minor, Son sustained for the whole game, even scoring twice and leading his team to victory. While his endurance was applauded, it has also caused fans to worry that he may take months to heal completely; this is his second time injuring his right elbow, and it is only about 2 cm above his injury from three years ago.
“Son’s determination to finish the game despite the injury was very impressive,” said Xavier Kim (10), an avid fan of Son Heung-min. “However, it was really heartbreaking to see him holding his elbow during the half-break time. Although the injury is not severe enough to affect him as a soccer player, it is his second elbow injury, so it might be worse than it seems. Even worse, I heard that he was restricted from joining the game for two weeks because of the coronavirus.”
On Feb. 19th, he flew back to South Korea for a fracture surgery, but after returning to the UK, he was isolated before joining the team again due to the coronavirus outbreak. With his severe injury and the isolation, Tottenham is expected to play without Son for at least 6-8 weeks, so the possibility of his return before the end of the Premier League season still remains unclear. Tottenham manager Jose Mourinho is considering various alternatives in positioning the players without Son as a left winger.
“This is a huge blow for Tottenham,” said Ricky Green, Physical Education teacher. “For Son Heung-min, it will be fine. All soccer players, at some point, miss games due to injuries. However, it is a problem for the team. Tottenham has been knocked out of the FA Cup and Champion League, and with Harry Kane also being injured, Jose Mourinio has been moving players into different positions.”