Son Heung-min of Tottenham Hotspur was named to South Korea’s Asian Cup squad on Thursday in an effort by coach Jurgen Klinsmann to end the nation’s 64-year continental championship futility.
Hwang Hee-chan, who scored his tenth Premier League goal of the season on Wednesday against Brentford, was also included in Klinsmann’s 26-man squad for the January 12 tournament in Qatar.
Son will lead a squad that also includes Kim Min-jae, a defender for Bayern Munich, and Lee Kang-in, an attacking midfielder for Paris Saint-Germain aged 22.
Since 1960, South Korea has been unable to win the Asian Cup. Klinsmann has not commented further, but he believes that this time around, the title will suffice.
South Korea has been assigned to Group E for the first round, where they will face Malaysia, Jordan, and Bahrain.
The team suffered a 1-0 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2019 Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates to eventual champions Qatar.
The South Korean team:
Kim Seung-gyu (Al Shabab/KSA), Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan), and Song Bum-keun (Shonan Bellmare/JPN) sit as goalkeepers.
Jung Seung-hyun (Ulsan), Kim Ju-sung (FC Seoul), Kim Ji-soo (Brentford/ENG), Seol Young-woo (Ulsan), Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan), Lee Ki-je (Suwon), and Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk) are the defenders associated with Arsenal Munich and Arsenal, respectively.
Son Heung-min of Tottenham-East Midlands, Jeong Woo-yeong of Stuttgart, Hwang Hee-chan of Wolves, Yang Hyun-jun of Tottenham-East Midlands, Park Yong-woo of Al Ain, Hwang In-beom of Red Star Belgrade, Lee Soon-min of Gwangju, Lee Jae-sung of Mainz, Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain, Son Soon-min of Gwangju, Jeong Woo-yeong
Cho Gue-sung (Midtjylland/DEN) and Oh Hyeon-gyu (Celtic/SCO) are strikers.