Captain Sonny scores 1st goals in Klinsmann era

By Yoo Jee-ho

ULSAN, March 24 (Yonhap) -- Who else but Sonny?

Son Heung-min, captain of the South Korean men's national football team, fittingly scored the first goal under new head coach Jurgen Klinsmann on Friday.

In fact, Son had the first two goals for Klinsmann, though they weren't enough as South Korea settled for a 2-2 draw against Colombia at Munsu Football Stadium in the southeastern city of Ulsan.

Son had been captain under the previous coach, Paulo Bento, for the past four years. Klinsmann, who was appointed at the end of February and made his coaching debut on this cool spring night, decided this week to retain Son as his skipper.

Given Son's stature within the team and his leadership skills, it was an easy decision. And Son wasted little time to respond to Klinsmann's faith in kind, scoring his 36th international goal in his 109th appearance.

And the captain barely had to break a sweat for the goal. Colombian goalkeeper Camilo Vargas casually stepped out of the box after passing the ball to teammate Johan Mojica. Vargas left the net unoccupied, and when Mojica's ill-fated clearing attempt found its way to Son, Vargas had to scramble back to position.

Son dribbled toward the center of the box and curled the ball into the wide-open net with his left foot.

Son doubled down with a free kick goal near the end of the first half, giving South Korea a seemingly comfortable 2-0 lead. With his 37th goal, Son climbed to third on the all-time South Korean scoring list.

The brace lost its luster, though, as Colombia erased that deficit with two quick goals early in the second half.

Son has now scored in three consecutive matches against Colombia, having earlier done so in November 2017 and March 2019.

jeeho@yna.co.kr
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