“Sometimes in life and football things can be both beautiful and brutal,” Thomas Frank aptly mused in summation of Tottenham Hotspur’s eventful pre-season friendly against Newcastle United on Sunday.
The game in South Korea was billed as Son Heung-min’s grand farewell after the Spurs captain announced his decision to leave north London. The 33-year-old forward trotted off the pitch to a standing ovation in the 65th minute ahead of what is expected to be a record-breaking move to LAFC.
Son was reduced to tears as he watched the remainder of the contest from the bench.
James Maddison had barely emerged from those same plush seats himself before leaving the pitch on a stretcher in the 86th minute. Lucas Bergvall was visibly distressed while watching his Spurs teammate receive treatment after pulling up off the ball.
Frank worryingly admitted that Maddison’s injury “looks bad” and theorised that it was damage to the same knee which forced him to miss the final month of the 2024–25 campaign.
An incredible moment as Newcastle players join Tottenham players in congratulating Son Heung-min on a brilliant Tottenham career, as he leaves the field in his final game for Spurs in his home country. pic.twitter.com/UXLjogAj6q
— Sports Illustrated FC (@SI_FootballClub) August 3, 2025
There had been a clear edge to Sunday’s friendly. Brennan Johnson had opened the scoring after just four minutes before Harvey Barnes scored the equalising goal of a fractious 1–1 draw towards the end of the first half.
Newcastle’s Brazilian midfielder Bruno Guimarães tangled with his Argentine counterpart Cristian Romero shortly after Barnes’s effort, with each South American grabbing a chunk of the other in an incident which was overlooked by the officials. Within 10 minutes of the second half, Joelinton appeared to jam his forearm into Archie Gray’s face in another fiery incident which went unchecked.
Son’s tearful farewell after the hour mark appeared to calm things down—even the Newcastle players got involved in sending the winger off with a guard of honour. Maddison’s injury was not the result of any contact, which may be even more concerning for Spurs with less than two weeks to go until the new Premier League campaign.
Frank struck a typically philosophical tone when reflecting on the balance of beauty and brutality. “That’s what we got today,” he sighed. “It looks like with Madders a bad injury and then on the other side unbelievable scenes for Son from his teammates and the respect from the Newcastle players.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Son Heung-min’s Tearful Tottenham Farewell Tainted by ‘Bad’ James Maddison Injury.
