Heungmin, wake up. Let's win for the first time! Tottenham advances to the semifinals of the Europa League by one goal, and will Son Heung-min, who is injured, be able to return

Apr 18, 2025

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Once again, the opportunity to win for the first time in his career has come. If you miss this, you don't know when you'll get another chance. It is time for Son Heung-min (33, Tottenham) to revive absolutely.

Tottenham Hotspur succeeded in advancing to the semifinals of the 2024-2025 UEFA Europa League after overcoming the negative factors of Son Heung-min's absence. The adventurer, which was like the gambling of director Enze Postecoglou, succeeded.

Tottenham won 1-0 against Einracht Frankfurt in the second leg of the Europa League quarterfinals at 4 a.m. on the 18th (Korea time), defending Dominic Solanke's penalty goal in the 38th minute of the first half. As a result, Tottenham advanced to the semifinals with a combined score of 2-1 in the first and second games.

It was a very close game. Ahead of the match, Tottenham faced a major unfavorable factor of 'the absence of a captain' Son Heung-min couldn't even get on the road to Germany due to an injury in his foot. It was a completely unexpected variable.

Of course, there have been no signs. Son Heung-min was excluded from the list of participants in the 32nd round of the 2024-2025 English Premier League (EPL) away game against Wolverhampton on the 13th. At the time, Postecoglou said "I had a slight pain in my foot, so I excluded it (from the roster)."

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It is not a serious injury, but it was understood as a strategy to save Son Heung-min for the second leg of the important Europa League quarterfinals. In fact, Son Heung-min trained normally with his teammates on the 16th after taking a break. Tottenham released training videos on its website and official SNS channels, and Son Heung-min played running while hanging out with his teammates with a bright expression.

However, Son Heung-min was not in the Tottenham squad that left for Germany on the 17th. In a pre-match press conference after arriving in Germany, Postecoglou said, `Son Heung-min did not accompany me on the road trip after all. Son Heung-min has had some foot problems in the past few weeks. I've been holding out well so far, but the pain has intensified over the past few days. I tried to train yesterday, but I wasn't in good shape.'

It was a shocking decision. Son Heung-min is still the team's captain and the core of his strength, although his skills have declined somewhat this season. However, he couldn't play due to injury. Moreover, even the expedition was canceled. Usually, in this case, the captain accompanies his colleagues on an expedition to encourage them.

In addition, England and Germany are very close. Unless Son Heung-min is in a serious condition where he can't even move, he can fly to Germany as much as he wants. But Son remained in London.

This has led to suspicions that Son Heung-min's injury is much more serious than expected or that Tottenham is deliberately excluding Son Heung-min from its power.

사진=토트넘

However, these suspicions subsided once Tottenham made it to the semifinals. Now, the important thing is how to wisely overcome the remaining four-finals and finals and reach the championship.

Tottenham's opponent in the semifinals is Norwegian professional team FK Bohud Klimt, who made a splash with 'dark horse'. He is an absolute powerhouse in the Norwegian League. He won four times in five seasons from the 2020-2021 season to the 2024-2025 season. However, Klimt struggled to beat Italian strongman Lazio in the quarterfinals. They won 2-0 in the first game, but lost 0-2 in the second game by conceding their second goal in the third minute of second-half stoppage time. In the end, the game went into extra time. Lazio Dia scored first in the 9th minute of extra time. However, in the fourth minute of extra time, Helmersen scored an equalizer again and went into a penalty shootout.

In the penalty shootout, Klimt won 3-2 and eventually won a place in the semifinals.

For Tottenham, as you can see, Klimt is a less demanding opponent than Lazio. However, we cannot downplay his record of beating Lazio and reaching the semifinals. Manchester United and Athletic Bilbao are up in the semi-finals on the other side. Maybe we could meet Manchester United in the final.

The semi-finals will also be played in two home-away matches. The first edition will be held on May 1 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, which is Tottenham's home stadium. There are approximately two weeks left.

It's time for Son Heung-min, who fell into the second round of the quarterfinals, to return. Son Heung-min earned about two weeks thanks to his teammates. During this time, you should raise your physical condition as much as possible and play the role of 'capin' in the main room again. That way, he can make use of his first career chance to win.

If we miss this opportunity, we don't know when we can try to win again. It is under contract with Tottenham until June next year, but the future is uncertain. So Son Heung-min is not just trying to win the championship. How to end his career is at stake.

If Son Heung-min is revived here and contributes to the championship, he can expect to renew his contract with Tottenham or later transfer to a European big league team. However, the future will be hopeless if he collapses due to injury. They have no choice but to go to B-class leagues such as Turkiye, the Saudi Arabian League, or the US MLS. We should focus on returning to the game in a life-or-death position.

This article was translated by Naver AI translator.