‘Nobody talks about it’: former Tottenham boss Mauricio Pochettino reveals Heung-Min Son would have LEFT Spurs if they didn’t allow him to play in last summer’s Asian Games
- Mauricio Pochettino said that Heung-Min Son played in the Asian Games career
- Son needed permission to play for South Korea as it was not part of the FIFA calendar
- Pochettino fought for Son to play, which helped him stay with Tottenham
Former Tottenham manager Mauricio Pochettino risked his job to have Heung-Min Son play in the Asian Games last season.
The South Korean was granted an exemption from compulsory military service for 21 months after leading his country to win the 2018 tournament in Indonesia. Since the Asian Games are not part of Fifa’s official football calendar, Spurs had to agree to release Son.
The club was reluctant to let Son leave the tournament after he signed a new long-term contract and had already missed part of the season due to an injury.
Mauricio Pochettino revealed that he let Heung-Min Son play in Asian Games, leaving him with Spurs
Pochettino had to release Son in the season to represent South Korea in the tournament
Pochettino put his own career at Spurs on the line as he fought for the South Koreans’ right to play for his country and he believes this ultimately left Son with the club and seemed to suggest the winger possibly North would have wanted to leave London if he couldn’t go to the games.
“Because Harry Kane is injured, Son doesn’t play for the first few months because of the Asian Games, nobody talks about that,” Pochettino told the High Performance Podcast.
“Today Sonny is in Tottenham because we have given him permission to play two games that were not mandatory, were not selfish and said ‘No, Sonny must stay here’.
“Because of the club. If not, two years and you have to cancel the contract with Son.
“Nobody says anything about that. It was our decision to give him time to go. ‘
Pochettino was fired by Tottenham in November after a poor streak of results in both the Premier League and Champions League. Jose Mourinho replaced the Argentinian and the club slowly moved up to the rankings.
Pochettino miraculously led Tottenham all the way to the 2019 Champions League final against Liverpool, which ended in a 2-0 defeat. After the loss it all went downhill for the Spurs boss.
Son won the tournament and was released from 21-month compulsory military service
‘Monday [after the Final]I was thinking about rebuilding, because if you are so competitive and a winner, you are not stuck in the past, ”he added. “You lose, but you want to win again tomorrow.
“I was not beaten because we did not win the final, we wanted to have a huge experience for us, learn and be ready for the next season. We fought for the top four at the same time we fought to be in the Champions League final.
“If you pick up the trophy, you’re very successful. But the second [place] is a failure, isn’t it? We don’t think like that, but of course that makes you sad.
“Of course people recognize that the track was fantastic, but to win the Champions League would have been great.”
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