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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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\u2019s spirited performance after only spending a limited time with his squad following his arrival in the country.<\/p>\n
“In just a few days, I saw a lot of good things. This game was very, very good,” said Klinsmann.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
“We keep learning, and we keep trying things out.<\/p>\n
“We wanted to, from the beginning, play high tempo and find ways to get chances, and match the aggressiveness of Colombia.<\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
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