]On the left side, Son Heung-min's teammate Ivan Perisic passed the ball to him.
Son Heung-min received the ball from the left side of the penalty area and hit it inside without hesitation, trying his signature right-footed shot. The ball that left his toes bent exquisitely, piercing the right corner of the goal accurately. It was the first time that an Asian player had achieved 100 goals in his English Premier League (EPL) career. Son Heung-min scored the first goal of the match, giving his team a 1-0 lead in the 10th minute of the first half of the 2022-23 EPL 30th round home game against Brighton and Hove Albion at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on the 8th (local time). Tottenham won 2-1 thanks to Son Heung-min's first goal.
Son Heung-min left Leverkusen in the German Bundesliga in August 2015 and started playing for Tottenham. A month after joining the team, he scored his EPL debut goal in the sixth round against Crystal Palace. He has scored 100 goals (50 assists) in 260 EPL games since that game, which was eight seasons and 2,757 days ago.
Son Heung-min scored four goals in 28 games during his first season in the EPL, and he scored double-digit goals every season after that, starting with 14 goals in the 2016-17 season. In the 2019-20 season, he scored more than 50 goals in the league.
Son Heung-min became Tottenham's ace by scoring 17 goals in 37 games in the 2020-21 season. He scored 23 goals in 35 games in the 2021-22 season, becoming the owner of the "Golden Boot" awarded to the EPL's top scorer. Son Heung-min was the first Asian player to become the top scorer in Europe's top five big leagues. It was a historical scene that rewrote the history of Asian football.
Although Son Heung-min had various difficulties this season, including an orbital fracture, he moved forward slowly and finally conquered the long-awaited 100 goal mark by adding seven league goals. Including other official matches such as the League Cup tournament and the European Champions League, Son Heung-min's career scoring record for Tottenham will increase to 142 goals.
Scoring 100 goals in the EPL is a milestone achieved only by 34 players in the league since it launched in the 1992-93 season. Alan Shearer, the legendary goalkeeper of English football, reached this height in the 1995-96 season, and he holds the highest scoring record with 260 goals in his career, which he achieved while playing for Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle United from the first season of the EPL to the 2005-06 season.
Only four players have scored more goals in the EPL than Son Heung-min among active players, including Kane, Jamie Vardy (England, Leicester City, 134 goals), Mohamed Salah (Egypt, Liverpool, 132 goals), and Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Alnasr, 103 goals), who currently plays in the Saudi Arabian League.
Son Heung-min scored 55 out of his 100 goals with his right foot and 41 with his left foot. He also scored four goals with his head, and only one goal was scored on a penalty kick. He scored a total of three hat tricks. He scored four goals, the most in a game against Southampton in September 2020, and scored three goals against Aston Villa in April last year and Leicester City in September.
Son Heung-min's opponent, who scored the most goals in the past eight seasons, scored 10 goals against Southampton. He scored nine goals against Leicester City and seven against Crystal Palace. Arsenal scored four goals in the "Northern London Derby."
When Son Heung-min set a milestone, congratulatory messages poured out from all sides. The EPL Secretariat placed the Korean name "Son Heung-min" in bold along with a photo of Son Heung-min on its official SNS. He introduced in detail the process of Son Heung-min's walk to reach 100 goals. Along with the greeting "WELCOME TO THE 100 CLUB," she posted a list of 34 players who joined the "100 Goal Club" from Shearer (260 goals) to Son Heung-min and a list of the scorers. The Tottenham club also rejoiced together by posting on SNS, "Son Heung-min scored 100 EPL goals for the first time as an Asian player," adding, "Congratulations Sonny."
More than anyone else, the main character who celebrated Son Heung-min as if it were his own business was "best friend" Kane. Kane, who holds the record for the most goals scored (45 goals) in EPL history, said in an SNS video, "I congratulate Son Heung-min a lot. "It's amazing to have achieved 100 EPL goals," he said. "It's something to be very proud of, and we're also proud of him."
The Tottenham team held a celebration for Son Heung-min in the locker room after the match. Son Heung-min, who greeted his teammates one after another, hugged acting coach Christian Stellini for a long time. Stellini said, "Let's celebrate Son Heung-min," and all the players applauded and cheered.
South Korea's national soccer team coach Klinsmann retweeted a tweet posted by the Tottenham club on the 10th to celebrate Son Heung-min's 100th EPL goal.
In the meantime, he left a message saying, "Congratulations!" and applauded the captain of the national team.
Klinsmann is Son Heung-min's 'Tottenham senior'.
He joined Tottenham ahead of the 1994-1995 season and scored 29 goals in 50 official matches before moving to Bayern Munich (Germany) in one season.
He then returned to Tottenham, which had been struggling in the relegation zone ahead of the second half of the 1997-1998 season, and scored nine goals in the league alone, playing as the top contributor to staying in the EPL.
Although he has played for Tottenham for a short time, he is recognized as a "legend" for leaving such a strong impression.
The British media also praised Son Heung-min's record of 100 goals in the EPL. Public broadcaster BBC praised in an online article, "The first global superstar Son Heung-min in Asia has become the first Asian player to score 100 EPL goals," adding, "As a result of his efforts with strict standards, he has made a great achievement and history."
"Son Heung-min started so slowly that he only started 13 games in his first EPL season." However, he soon became an indispensable part of the team. "Now Tottenham is relying on Son Heung-min at an important moment."
Son Heung-min did not hide his overwhelming emotions in an interview with the BBC after the match. "It's a huge thing to score 100 goals in the EPL," he said. "It's what I've dreamed of." "It's an amazing achievement that I wouldn't have achieved without my colleagues," he said.
In particular, Son Heung-min recalled his maternal grandfather who left for heaven on the 1st. Son Heung-min, who pointed to the sky with his hand after scoring a goal, cried for a while and said, "I had a mixed feeling because I went through a difficult moment in the past few weeks," adding, "In particular, it was not easy for my maternal grandfather to die. I want to dedicate this goal to my maternal grandfather," he said.
He also delivered a message of hope to Asian soccer players who want to make an example of him. Son Heung-min stressed, "I hope all Asian players, including Korean players, will see this achievement and believe that they can do it as well." "I have a great responsibility to set a good example for helping young players," he said adding, "I hope I believe that Asian players can do amazing things in the EPL."
A Look at the Remarkable Career of Tottenham’s South Korean Superstar
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