Son Heung-min to remain S. Korean captain under new coach Klinsmann

By Yoo Jee-ho

SEOUL, March 21 (Yonhap) -- Son Heung-min will remain captain of the South Korean men's national football team under new head coach Jurgen Klinsmann, the sport's national federation said Tuesday.

An official with the Korea Football Association said Klinsmann officially settled on Son as his captain Tuesday, the second day of the German coach's first training camp with South Korea.

South Korean midfielder Son Heung-min speaks to reporters at the National Football Center in Paju, some 30 kilometers northwest of Seoul, before a training session on March 21, 2023. (Yonhap)

Son wore the captain's armband for most of the past four years under Klinsmann's predecessor, Paulo Bento.

During a media scrum earlier Tuesday at the National Football Center in Paju, some 30 kilometers northwest of Seoul, Son had said he wasn't sure if he'd still be captain for Klinsmann.

At 30, Son is one of the senior members of the current 25-man squad. He is tops on the team with 108 international caps.

Son has been with Tottenham Hotspur since 2015, winning the Premier League Golden Boot last season, and Klinsmann, a legendary striker in his playing days, also played for the London-based club across two different stints in the 1990s.

Klinsmann has called himself "a big fan" of the player affectionately called Sonny, and Son said Tuesday it was a "special" opportunity to be playing for the football icon.

Son will lead South Korea in friendlies against Colombia on Friday and Uruguay next Tuesday.