Son in Porto Alegre, Hamburg at Arena do Grêmio and a Beira-Rio World Cup goal | OneFootball

As the World Cup opens with Mexico against South Africa, South Korea face the Czech Republic at 23:00 Brasília time in Group A. Heung-min Son, set for his fourth finals, remains the focal point and his career carries a neat Porto Alegre thread.

Globo.com highlights that the forward, now 33 and at Los Angeles FC in MLS, began in Germany before a standout spell in England. Early on, he formed part of Hamburg’s squad for Grêmio’s Arena inauguration on 8 December 2012.

Grêmio won 2-1, repeating the 1983 scoreline. André Lima netted the stadium’s first goal, Westermann levelled for Hamburg, and Marcelo Moreno secured the win late on. Son, then 20, came on in the second half.

Two years later at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, he returned to Porto Alegre with South Korea to face Algeria in the second round of Group H. Son struck his side’s first, yet Algeria prevailed 4-2 at Beira-Rio.

Across three World Cups, Son has three goals. He added two in the 2018 group stage in Russia, in defeat to Mexico and in the famous win over Germany that eliminated the holders. Four years later in Qatar, he did not score, recording one assist in four games.

Regarded as one of Asia’s greats, Son shone above all in the Premier League across a decade with Tottenham. He played 454 times, scoring 173 goals and supplying 101 assists for the club.

Source: Globo.com