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| ▲ This photo, captured from FIFA+, shows Son Heung-min from "Asia Stories." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, captured from FIFA+, shows Son Heung-min's father Son Woong-jung from "Asia Stories." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
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| ▲ This photo, captured from FIFA+, shows Son Heung-min's brother Son Heung-yun from "Asia Stories." (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
SEOUL, April 20 (Yonhap) -- The life and philosophy of Son Heung-min’s father Song Woong-jung, who played an important role in the player’s rise to stardom, was featured in FIFA’s streaming service, FIFA+.
In the FIFA+’s series “Asia Stories,” an interview of Son Heung-min (30·Tottenham)’s father Son Woong-jung (60), and his brother Son Heung-yun (33) was filmed.
Head Coach Son Woong-jung expressed that he was pretty much a third-rate player during his years but played in the same position as Son Heung-min, as a versatile winger. Coach Son played for Sangmu, Hyundai, and Ilhwa but retired early due to an injury.
Head coach Son hinted that the 2002 Korea-Japan World cup was at the root of his son’s soccer career.
He explained, “I had many worries when Heung-min and Heung-yun said they wanted to play sports. I couldn't just replicate the way I was trained back in the day because it was just too different, times had changed," adding, “I watched the games I could, recorded the games I couldn’t for the kind of training I wanted for my own kids."
Head Coach mentioned that this led to the Son Football Academy and said, “It was a big gift to me," adding, "Heung-min was just a little kid at the time, it stimulated his curiosity and motivation."
He said, “I regretted not having started training at a young age. That's one of the reasons why I opened this academy, really," adding, “I tried to help the children have good performances and I still share the same idea.”
“So I'd train with Heung-min and Heung-yun, I thought youth players should not lack focus and perseverance,” adding, “That explains why those early days I spent training the boys might have felt so strict and intimidating to them. I asked three times a day, ‘This is hard. Do you still want to do it?’”
Son Heung-min’s brother, Coach Son Heung-yun also said, “On the pitch, I think of him more as a teacher than my father."
“We might have been his sons, but he still wouldn't tolerate mistakes. We'd keep training until we got things done,” adding, “At times we even spent as much as three hours controlling the ball. We'd focus so much on the ball that, even on a flat surface like a pitch, we'd end up feeling dizzy," explained Coach Son.
“I think my father's changed a lot over the years, especially if you compared how he trains the kids today as opposed to training us back in the day. The Song Woong-jung you see today is a coach who loves children, and someone who only cares about making sure that kids learn the fundamentals and be happy on the pitch," said Coach Son.
Player Choi In-woo (20), who learned football in head coach Son’s academy and entered the SC Paderborn 07 II this year, also appears in the video.
Choi said, “I was in fourth grade when I first joined the academy. The training consists of fundamentals like ball control and passing. You get the feeling that we are our coaches' main priority."
“Son Woong-jung is not just a football coach, he's like a second father to me," adding, “Our coach always stresses the importance of growing as a person so we focus just as much on that kind of growth,” explained Choi.
(This article is translated from Korean to English by An Hayeon.)
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