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| APYonhap News |
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| EPAYonhap News |
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| APYonhap News |
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"Sonny (Son Heung-min's nickname), please lead the U.S. to win the World Cup."
Los Angeles City Councilman Heather Hut made an absurd slip of the tongue at Son Heung-min's joining ceremony at the BMO Stadium in Los Angeles on the 7th. Lawmaker Huh, who attended the joining ceremony on the day, said, `I don't want to put pressure on you. However, we are all looking forward to the U.S. winning the 2026 World Cup. I'm here to support you (Son Heung-min) to achieve the feat."
Congressman Hut made the remarks because he thought that joining the LA would mean joining the U.S. national team. Son Heung-min is the current captain of the South Korean national football team, which has played 134 A matches, and is preparing to participate in the World Cup finals, which will be co-hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico in June next year. The British daily `Daily Mail" seems to have failed to understand what the World Cup is like. Son laughed off without answering,' he reported. The Philadelphia Union, a U.S. media outlet, wrote 'It's a rude mistake by Congressman Huh. He pointed out that he made such a remark even though there was a Korean town in his district.
After the U.S. national soccer team announced its A-match list in September, Rep. Huh's slip of the tongue, which became a `meme' (meme), was 'recall'. In the region, news-type SNS posts are being posted one after another saying Son Heung-min is missing from the list announced by U.S. national team coach Mauricio Pochettino.
In these posts, a local soccer fan wrote, "Pochettino, why did you turn away from Son Heung-min?"It was too much to exclude Son Heung-min." He joined 'meme' with a reaction. "Son Heung-min and Lionel Messi should have been picked."The comment " is also noticeable. Argentine legend Messi also plays for Inter Miami, a member of the U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS).
The U.S. has excluded many of its key players from the list, including Matthew Turner (New England), Giovanni Reyna (Borussia Mönchengladbach), Johnny Cardoso (Atletico Madrid), Western McKennie (Juventus), Braden Aaronson (Liz United), and Mark McKinsey (Toulouse). Christian Pulisic (AC Milan), Timothy Weah (Marceu), and Jonathan Klinsman (Chesena), the son of former Korean national team coach Jurgen Klinsman, were selected. It is evaluated as 1.5th or 2nd Army.
In a situation where Pochettino has been sluggish since his appointment last year, it is also read that U.S. soccer fans want players with high name values such as Son Heung-min to join.
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| AFP Yonhap News |
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Hong Myung-bo is scheduled to play an A-match friendly against the United States at Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey on the 7th of next month. If Son Heung-min, who is included in the September list, participates in the game and performs well, lawmaker Huh's remarks are expected to come into the spotlight again.
Son Heung-min has a unique relationship with Pochettino. When Pochettino led Tottenham, he moved from Leverkusen to Tottenham in 2015 and established a four-year relationship with his teacher until 2019, when Pochettino left the team. It shared the same history as Tottenham's first European Champions League final. This is the first time Son Heung-min will face the U.S. European players, including Son Heung-min, were absent in the friendly match between South Korea and the United States in LA in February 2014.
South Korea plans to move to Lower Dotcom Field in Columbus, Ohio, on the 10th for a second friendly match with Mexico. The national team will depart for the United States, a battleground, on the morning of the 1st of next month.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
