Son Heung-min has made his feelings on Ange Postecoglou’s future very clear after Tottenham lifted the Europa League trophy to end 17 years without silverware.
An understrength Spurs side battled to overcome Manchester United 1-0 in Bilbao after Brennan Johnson forced Luke Shaw into an own goal in the San Mames Stadium. After the game, Son wept tears of joy and relief before he became the first Tottenham captain in 41 years to lift a European trophy.
“Amazing feeling. It feels like a dream come true and the hard work, the commitment I put in my whole life … it finally pays off. Yeah, very, very happy, the luckiest guy in the world, the happiest guy in the world,” he said
Even though Son was named on the bench by Postecoglou, coming on for the final half an hour to help Tottenham record their historic win, the South Korean star, who was named skipper by the Australian when he joined, had no hesitation in saying what he thinks should happen with his head coach despite the speculation surrounding him and a decision in the coming weeks by chairman Daniel Levy.
“He won the trophy. Nobody did it, so …. look, it’s not up to me or the players, but we just have to look at the facts, at the fact that we haven’t won in 17 years, today is the day we finally won it. It’s the manager who wins the trophy. So we see what’s going to happen,” he said.
Son admitted that he was understandably disappointed not to start the game in Spain but this was not a day to think about himself, only the greater good for Tottenham Hotspur.
“Look, you always want to start the game. This was not a stage where you can be selfish. You just have to think about what the team needs and of course I was ready to do it,” he said. “Obviously, I was a bit disappointed, of course, but the most important thing is that we won the trophy and then I was thinking that I was going to lift the trophy with my hands.
“So credit to all the boys that came on and also all the boys that were not involved tonight but who have contributed to us getting here. It was difficult but I was committed to the team. Credit to every single player.”
Ahead of the game, Postecoglou had got video messages from the players’ families to show to them in the team hotel. football.london understands that the Spurs boss went about having the messages prepared and kept secret from the squad in order to have the maximum impact with only a handful of people aware it was being organised. It certainly made an impact on Son.
“Family is all we care about, the most important [thing] in my life. Their commitment, their love from day one,” he said. “Since I started football my family were always there. Look, even when I watched the video from family members I was getting emotional. I desperately wanted to win.
“Not because of me, I just wanted to win for the family. People think players are deserving of this trophy but it’s the families who deserve this for their sacrifice, their commitment.”
The Tottenham captain also paid tribute to the fans, both in N17 and at home in Korea, in as he placed a big missing part of his 10 years at Spurs into the jigsaw of his career.
“To complete that final piece of the puzzle I feel the fans played the biggest part. I don’t think I played a big part. When times were hard, when it was great or when it was difficult, the fans who supported me throughout I was able to finally complete that puzzle.” he said.
“I can’t tell you what kind of puzzle it is, but the people who helped complete this puzzle are the fans and all Korean people. I’d like to express my thanks to all of them and I promise to Korean people I will not let them down and I will give my all as a player.”
They only went and did it! Click here to listen to a special episode of Gold & Guest Talk Tottenham on Spurs’ Europa League triumph.
