South Korea shocked the football world by defeating Germany 2-0 at the FIFA World Cup in Russia earlier this week, but Son Heung-min, South Korea's star forward, insisted on Friday he and the rest of the team won't stay content.
Son and his teammates returned home on Friday, after their stunning victory over the defending champions was enough to get them out of Group F. South Korea finished third behind Sweden and Mexico with three points, from one win and two losses.
Son netted two goals in the tournament, including the second goal against Germany. The team was greeted by hundreds of fans at Incheon International Airport, with the upset win from Wednesday still fresh on their minds.
(Yonhap)
But Son said the national team players are determined not to let that one win affect their work ethic.
"I am sorry to our fans that we didn't live up to our promise of reaching the knockout stage," Son said. "But I think we all saw some hope from the win over Germany. But we won't be drunk with that bit of success, and we'll continue to work hard."
He said beating Germany was by far his favorite memory from his second World Cup appearance. Defender Kim Young-gwon scored the first goal of that game, but South Korea had to wait a few extra moments to celebrate because the goal was initially disallowed on an offside ruling and video assistant referees had to review the play before counting the goal.
"As a player on the field at the moment, I knew that was going to be a good goal," Son said. "And the best part of it all was how we all celebrated after the referee blew the whistle and said it was a goal." (Yonhap)
