Son Heung-min suffered 4 fractures to eye socket, surgery pushed up to Friday: report

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, Nov. 4 (Yonhap) -- Son Heung-min's surgery on his facial injury has been pushed up to Friday, as the South Korean captain tries to keep alive his hopes of competing at the upcoming FIFA World Cup, a report out of London said.

The Telegraph reported that Son, the Tottenham Hotspur forward, had suffered four fractures to his eye socket after colliding with an opposing defender during a UEFA Champions League match at Marseille on Tuesday. Tottenham announced the following day that Son would require surgery, without revealing the exact nature of his injury or timetable for his return.

In this Associated Press photo, Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur (2nd from R) receives treatment for a facial injury during the team's UEFA Champions League Group D match against Marseille at Stade de Marseille in Marseille, France, on Nov. 1, 2022. (Yonhap)

The British paper added that Son will only find out if he will miss the World Cup after the procedure, which had been initially scheduled for the weekend but had been brought forward to give the player an extra day to recover.

The World Cup kicks off in Qatar on Nov. 20 and South Korea's first Group H match against Uruguay is Nov. 24.

Tottenham defeated Marseille 2-1 in that match, and Son joined his teammates in their celebration inside the dressing room, leading to speculation that his injury wasn't as serious as once feared. However, with the impending surgery and weeks of recovery to follow, Son's availability for the big tournament is now in doubt.

The Telegraph said Son will likely miss Tottenham's remaining three matches before the World Cup.

The paper cited a recent example of another player's relatively quick recovery from a similar injury. Belgian star Kevin De Bruyne played less than three weeks after suffering fractures to his nose and lefty eye socket in 2021.