New South Korea coach Juergen Klinsmann was full of praise for his skipper Son Heung-min after the Spurs ace striker scored both goals for a 2-2 draw with visitors Colombia in Ulsan on Friday.
Despite having endured a difficult season in the Premier League, Son was clearly determined not to allow those issues to disrupt his concentration and performance as he scored twice as the South Koreans took a two-goal lead into the interval in Klinsmann’s first game in charge of the Taeguk Warriors.
“I’m obviously very happy every time Sonny scores,” said Klinsmann, who was appointed as the replacement for Paulo Bento at the end of February.
“As a striker, this is what you’re looking for. He had a fantastic game. He has the freedom to rotate (behind the striker). As long as he knows where the goal is, I am happy.”
Son has clearly had some difficulty struggling to repeat the performances that earned him the Golden Boot as the Premier League’s joint-top scorer last season, but he showed no indications of that as he gave South Korea the lead in the 10th minute before curling home a sensational free kick moments before the half-time whistle blew.
However a win for the South Koreans was not to be as goals from James Rodriguez and Jorge Carrascal in the first five minutes of the second half saw the Colombians claim a draw. Nonetheless, the former U.S. and Germany coach was duly encouraged by his team’s spirited performance after only spending a limited time with his squad following his arrival in the country.
“In just a few days, I saw a lot of good things. This game was very, very good,” said Klinsmann.
“We gave two goals away right after halftime, unfortunately. Maybe concentration was not there. The rest of the 84 minutes was a very good game.
“We keep learning, and we keep trying things out.
“We wanted to, from the beginning, play high tempo and find ways to get chances, and match the aggressiveness of Colombia.
“And we matched that aggressiveness. I was very pleased with the way we tactically executed our ideas. I am really, really pleased with the performance.”