The story of Son Heung - Min and the lesson of solidarity

It turns out that with top-level football, the ball stopping rolling does not mean "the end of the story", but on the contrary, there are always many interesting and attractive things waiting ahead.

The latest story that has stirred up the football world is related to Son Heung-Min and the defeat of the Korean National Team in the semi-finals of the Asian Cup against the Jordan National Team (0-2). Obviously, despite continuously facing difficulties in the matches against Jordan in the group stage (2-2), and against Australia in the round of 16 (1-1, 4-2 on penalties), the Korean National Team with its elite squad of stars playing in the top European football leagues is still rated higher than the Jordan National Team. Many people have even "dreamed" of a dream final and Korea will be crowned according to the usual bumpy but happy ending in football.

But then all predictions were wrong, even very wrong when the Jordan team dominated the game, scored 2 goals evenly in the 2 halves and did not give Son Heung-Min a chance to shoot on goal. No one recognized the Korean team with great fighting spirit until the extra time in the 2 previous matches. There was also no sign of the timely leadership and brilliance of Captain Son Heung-Min, the classy accelerations or free kicks of Lee Kang-In or Hwang Hee-chan. It turned out that before the semi-final, the simmering conflicts between the older players and the younger players had a chance to flare up and a conflict broke out. Because of preventing the younger players from hastily finishing dinner to go play table tennis, Son Heung-Min and Lee Kang-In got into a fight, leading to Son's dislocated finger. Son later even asked not to let Lee play in the semi-final (but the player playing for PSG was still present).

Only then did everyone realize: The unity, solidarity, and community strength of the Korean team had broken down, causing the team to be fragmented, losing its cohesion, attacking power, flexibility, and each person searching for the ball in a different way, leading to it becoming more harmless, loose, and easier to defeat than ever.

It turns out that even the Korean team, which played in the semi-finals of the World Cup, is a “regular guest” of every World Cup as well as continental tournaments, has dozens of players shining in Europe… can still become mediocre just because of a lack of internal solidarity, “kicking” themselves in the foot at important and decisive moments. Good expertise is necessary, required in every top team, but if there is a lack of solidarity, not looking together in the same direction, the same goal, then it is just a scattered, harmless collection of lonely stars.

During the competition at the 2023 Asian Cup, it is difficult to say who is the best and who is the worst Korean player, but clearly, many stars are not enough to make an invincible team. Korea continuously conceded first goals, then attacked "to the death" to equalize the score and take the lead thanks to the class of the stars. Meanwhile, the Japanese team has the most foreign stars, but it seems that they are not called by the right name for a tournament, especially the goalkeeper and defense positions. From there, despite being extremely united and trying, Japan still lost the match because of individual mistakes in the final moments and nerve-wracking moments.

It is also necessary to mention that, in the process of reaching new heights, many football teams in developing countries have long looked to the "model" of Japan and Korea to learn and follow, including certainly Thailand and Vietnam. Obviously, these two football backgrounds have made great strides in development, especially in training a rich source of players capable of competing well in the top football tournaments in Asia and Europe as seen. And learning from Japan and Korea is correct and necessary, although it is not easy to learn and follow. But besides that, it is also necessary to see that any football background has its own internal problems and difficulties, at one time or another, which can be solved well and cannot be solved well.

For example, Brazil does not lack excellent players but always lacks a worthy strategist. Germany is going through a generational transition so it is not playing well even though it does not lack good teachers. Japan and Korea are approaching world level but do not have good teachers to take their team further than before. Teams like China, Thailand, Vietnam... are lacking in human resources, material resources, and the level of both players and teachers, so they need to have a long-term strategy to improve the quality of players, from youth training, increasing competition, the quality of national tournaments... And we cannot forget the issue of solidarity, fighting for the flag and the shirt like Mr. Calisto or Mr. Park Hang-seo have done as a very appropriate lesson for the next generation.

The fact that many key players were injured (some say fake injuries?) and could not participate in the recent ASIAN Cup is something that cannot be taken lightly or ignored, even if it is only 1% true. The hot lesson about Son Heung-Min's "broken finger" in the Korean National Team, which is receiving the attention and concern of the whole world, is a valuable lesson, a lesson to be learned by heart for any top team in the continent or any team in the lowlands. Good expertise alone is not enough. Will alone is not enough either. It must be a harmonious and smooth combination to create collective strength, long-term strength.