Son Heung-min

Son Heung-Min hasn’t played football for Tottenham Hotspur this season, and it’s possible that he will be paying for Korea before he returns to Spurs.

Shin Tae-yong, the South Korea national team manager is expected to call up Son for upcoming AFC World Cup qualifying matches at the end of the August, even though he is recovering from injury. A decision has yet to be made as to whether Son can start the game or be a substitute. The final roster will be announced on 14 August 2017. Hopefully, the risk of Son playing in international matches so soon after injury is not too high.

Son is one of Korea’s best players, and without him on the team Korea faces an uphill battle to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Korea are currently second in their qualifying group with 13 points, behind Iran with 20. Uzbekistan is on 12, and Syria on 9. The final two qualifying matches see Korea host Iran on 31 August and then travel to Uzbekistan on 5 September. The top two teams in their group automatically qualify for Russia 2018.