Heung-min Son has apologised in advance to his Tottenham teammates for missing a month of the Premier League season due to his involvement in the Asian Games.
Son will be available for Tottenham’s first game of the 2018/19 campaign, which sees the side take on Newcastle at St James’ Park, before joining up with South Korea in Indonesia.
If reigning champions South Korea make it to Asian Games final, Son will stand to miss Tottenham’s games against Fulham, Manchester United and Watford.
Speaking ahead of Spurs’ 1-0 win against AC Milan in Minneapolis, Son said: “I feel sorry because Tottenham is my team and I feel very sorry for my team-mates and coaching staff.
“But I am playing for my country and that is also important. But honestly I feel very sorry about that. That is what I feel.”
Son is still due to undertake 21 months of military service – as is mandatory for all able-bodied South Korean males before the age of 28. However, victory in the Asian Games could offer Son a reprieve from duty.
When asked if this was a factor in his decision to commit to the Games, the 26-year-old said: “We can talk about this afterwards.
“We haven’t won it already. We are going there to win something and winning trophies for my country is always good. I am going there to win something, to win games. I don’t travel there for nothing.”
Addressing South Korea’s performance at Russia 2018, where the side failed to reach the knockout stages despite eliminating champions Germany from the tournament, Son admitted he was left disappointed by his experience at the World Cup.
“I was disappointed a little bit but we finished well against Germany,” he said. “Our country was happy because they were No.1 in the Fifa rankings and the defending World Cup champions.
“For me, it’s always a bit disappointing because I expect more than the group stage. I wanted to stay longer than we did. But it was a good experience to play at the World Cup and I look forward to playing in another in four years.”
