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| 사진=LAFC SNS 캡처 |
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| photo capture=MLS official channel |
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The result was as expected.
Unfortunately, Son Heung-min (LAFC) missed 'New King' The U.S. Major League Soccer (MLS) secretariat announced the Rookie of the Year award for the 2025 season on its official channel on the 5th (Korea time). As expected, Anderson Dryer (San Diego) was chosen. According to the secretariat, the rookie award was decided by a vote of MLS technicians, media, and players. Drier won the Rookie of the Year award with 74.11 percent of the vote. The Rookie of the Year award is given to a player who made his MLS debut in 2025 among players with professional experience.
Drier, who moved from Anderrecht to San Diego ahead of this season, scored 20 goals and 17 assists. With Drier's performance, San Diego ranked first in the Western Conference. The secretariat said, "'San Diego's Dryer has been named MLS Rookie of the Year award winner of 2025'Dryer scored 38 offensive points with a club-record 19 goals and 19 assists in his debut season. It is the third-best record in the MLS season. He contributed 60% of his 64 San Diego goals.
The runner-up was Son Heung-min. Son received 6.3 percent of the support. He beat out Chicago Fire's Philippi Sinkernagel (6.21%) who showed enormous productivity with 15 goals and 12 assists. It is also a great achievement to be ranked second in the Rookie of the Year award with just three months of performance. Even the MLS secretariat officially admitted that if Drier had the best performance, Son Heung-min was the most influential player.
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| 사진=LAFC SNS 캡처 |
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Son Heung-min left Tottenham, where he played for 10 years, in August for a new challenge. The destination was LAFC, USA. Son Heung-min entered LA FC with the hospitality of local politicians, including LA Mayor Karen Bath, Federal Representative Dave Min, LA City Councilman Heather Hurt, and Consul General Kim Young-hwan, in addition to club officials such as LA FC co-chairman and general manager John Torrington and senior owner Bennett Rosenthal.
Son Heung-min changed the stream of MLS as soon as he entered. The United States 'LA Times' announced 'Most Important Recruitment TOP10' in MLS history. Superstars called Naero have been on the MLS stage, and Son Heung-min ranked fourth in the gap. First place was David Beckham, who moved from Real Madrid to the LA Galaxy and is now the owner of Inter Miami. Second place was Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who also played for the LA Galaxy, and third place was Lionel Messi, who currently plays for Inter Miami.
Next was Son Heung-min. The fact that U.S. soccer legend Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, who played in the English Premier League, and Thierry Henry, who played for the New York Red Bulls, are below them shows Son Heung-min's status. Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and Gareth Bale, who performed on the U.S. stage, did not even make the ranking.
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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The LA Times evaluated that `Asian soccer star Son Heung-min's transfer to LA FC earlier this month is a large achievement that is not limited to the team.' From the MLS' perspective, it can be an opportunity to pioneer the Asian market in terms of marketing and sponsorship by recruiting the best players in Korean soccer history. In addition, the league's highest transfer fee of $26 million (about 36.3 billion won) is also considered to be sufficiently valuable.
The Son Heung-min effect is already in progress. LA FC posted an article titled 'Son Heung-min Effect', saying 'The effect after Son Heung-min joined is unprecedented' According to LA FC, Son Heung-min's recruitment effect is more than five times that of Gareth Bale in 2022. The figures are even more surprising, and after Son Heung-min joined, the number of club-related content views increased by 594% to 33.98 billion. Media coverage of the club also increased by 289%. Son Heung-min's uniform sold more than 1.5 million, three times more than when Messi moved to Inter Miami. During that period, Son Heung-min's uniforms were reportedly the most sold in all sports around the world.
Son Heung-min is showing his influence right away even inside the stadium. Son Heung-min, who appeared splendidly in his debut match (2-2 draw) against the Chicago Fire on the 10th, assisted the winning goal in his first starting match (2-1 win) against the New England Revolution on the 17th. He also scored his debut goal in the match against FC Dallas on the 24th. In the 6th minute of the first half, he performed his signature 'Click Ceremony' in the United States with a fantastic free kick.
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| Source=MLS Official Website |
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The U.S. was more excited by Son Heung-min's goal. The MLS said Son Heung-min quickly proved his skills in the MLS, adding that Son Heung-min scored his world-class debut goal in the MLS. "Son Heung-min's first three games are worth hanging at the Louvre," said defender Kosi Tapari. "He won a penalty kick, scored an assist, and scored a goal. I don't know what's going to happen next week. He's doing an amazing job, and his energy is really good."
In the end, this goal became the goal of the year. On the 28th of last month, the MLS secretariat said, "'Son Heung-min's debut goal for LAFC will forever be recorded in history. 'The fantastic free kick goal against FC Dallas in August, which was scored by a Korean superstar, was selected as the 2025 AT&T MLS goal of the year.'" At that time, Son Heung-min's goal was selected as the best goal of the round 'Goal of the Match Day' and was nominated for the best goal in MLS in the 2025 season. Son Heung-min was honored with the award in a fan vote held on the MLS website, beating over 『GOAT" Lionel Messi (Inter Miami) and"Heungbu Duo"Dni Vuanga (LAFC).
This is the first time an Asian player has won the MLS Goal of the Year title, which began in 1996, and an LA FC player has received it. The MLS secretariat said, "'Son Heung-min, who made his debut in August, has nine goals and three assists in 10 regular-season games. He also showed a deadly attack with Buanga and once combined for his team's 18 consecutive goals.
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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| ReutersYonhap News |
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Son Heung-min scored his second goal of the season in an away match against San Jose EarthQuake on the 14th of last month, and even scored his first hat trick in an away match against Real Salt Lake on the 18th. Son Heung-min's performance did not stop. He scored one goal and two assists in a home game against Salt Lake on the 22nd and multiple goals in an away game against St. Louis City on the 28th. He scored the first goal in the final away game against the Colorado Raffes. Son Heung-min finished 10 regular-season games with 9 goals and 3 assists as soon as he made his debut. Son Heung-min showed his best performance, being selected four times only for Lee Ju's team.
Unfortunately, he missed the Rookie of the Year award, but Son Heung-min's eyes are on winning. LA FC defeated Austin FC to reach the Western Conference semifinals. The opponent is the Vancouver Whitecaps, where Thomas Muller plays.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
