- Australia will take on South Korea in the quarter-final of the Asian Cup
- Son Heung-Min the obvious danger man for Socceroos
- Kick-off is 2.30am, Saturday AEDT from Doha
Eminently likeable, exceptionally skilled and an excellent performer in the big moments, Son Heung-min is football’s modern movie star.
Unfortunately for the Socceroos, South Korea’s smiling killer – and Ange Postecoglou’s Tottenham captaincy – stands between them and an Asian Cup semi-final.
“I called Ange and asked if he can take him back,” Socceroos coach Graham Arnold joked before the game.
The South Korea captain, who scored in the 2015 Asian Cup final against Australia, is smart, explosive, elusive and a brilliant finisher.
He is yet to feature in this tournament either, which makes the quarter-final at Al Janoub Stadium in Doha on Friday evening (2.30am, Saturday AEDT) all the more ominous.
“You want to play the best players in the world and he’s probably up there, right?” said right back Nathaniel Atkinson.
The Socceroos will have to contain Son Heung-min if they want to win the Asian Cup quarter-final against South Korea
Socceroos coach Graham Arnold joked he called ‘Aussie Ange’ Postecoglou and said he was welcome to take the superstar back before he plays Australia
‘He scores goals for fun in the Premier League. So it will be fun to see how he gets into those positions, but also for us to see how we can stop that.”
Captain Mat Ryan insists the Socceroos will respect Son, but not too much.
After all, this is a team that has faced Argentina’s Lionel Messi twice in the past two years, as well as Frenchman Kylian Mbappe and England captain Harry Kane.
“He’s only human at the end of the day,” goalkeeper Ryan said.
Experienced defender Aziz Behich has had it with Son before.
“You have to be careful, as a player it’s clearly in the back of your mind when you’re on the pitch that these kind of world-class players can change a game in the blink of an eye,” he said.
“But it’s all about us and what we can do as a team.”
Of course, there is more to South Korea than Son.
Ange Postecoglou continues to impress in the Premier League, with Spurs in fourth place – minus their biggest star
Paris Saint-Germain star Lee Kang-in, Wolves forward Hwang Hee-chan and big striker Cho Gue-sung are all capable of giving Australia’s defense nightmares.
“That’s where we need to be on the song,” Arnold said.
“Our defensive structure, our defensive shape has been very good, we have conceded one goal so far this tournament.
“And I know I said clean sheets win you tournaments, but if you’re a little sloppy against these types of opponents and give them a little bit of space, you can get punished.
“We’ve been looking at that and working on that and making sure that we don’t give them that time and space, but also that we have our structure right so that we can negate that.”