With eight goals to his name already this campaign, Bayer 04 Leverkusen forward Heung-Min Son has underlined his status as one of the world's most exciting young players
With eight goals to his name already this campaign, Bayer 04 Leverkusen forward Heung-Min Son has underlined his status as one of the world's most exciting young players

South Korea's favourite Son loving life in Leverkusen

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Leverkusen - After what has been an intense, but undeniably successful, few weeks for Bayer 04 Leverkusen, Heung-Min Son watched from the sidelines as his team-mates required extra-time to force against Bundesliga 2 outfit 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the DFB Cup on Tuesday evening.

HSV grounding

Suspended for the tie, Son enjoyed a well-deserved rest after helping his side overcome Club Atletico de Madrid in the UEFA Champions League and SC Freiburg in the Bundesliga, a result which moved Roger Schmidt’s side into fourth spot. During his time off, the 22-year-old was inundated with fans’ questions on the Champions League Facebook page and in response sang the Bundesliga’s praises along with discussing life in Leverkusen.

Indeed, despite enjoying a successful period with die Werkself since summer 2013, the South Korean claimed that the highlight of his young career came with Hamburger SV.
"[My best moment so far in football] was my first Bundesliga match against 1. FC Köln when I was 18 - I scored!" The Northern giants clearly had a profound impact on Son’s footballing education, with the forward citing that Bundesliga legends "Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ze Roberto at HSV" were the best players he has played with.

It wasn’t just that legendary duo singled out for special praise, however, with FC Bayern München pair Philipp Lahm and Jerome Boateng named as the best defenders Son has come up against. The current Bundesliga leaders were also described as having "a lot of talented players", as Son witnessed first hand during his side’s 1-0 reverse at the Allianz Arena on Matchday 14.

Life in Leverkusen


Unsurprisingly, given the trio’s on-field chemistry, fans were also eager to question one of the world’s most exciting young players on his relationship with fellow attackers Karim Bellarabi and Hakan Calhanoglu. "Calhanoglu, [Bernd] Leno, and Bellarabi are my best friends in Leverkusen," he explained, before adding that "Kyriakos Papadopoulos and Bellarabi are really funny. They are full of jokes in the dressing room."

The popular young man, who has scored eight Bundesliga goals this campaign, went into further detail about his life off the field, explaining that he likes "lots of Korean music that most people have probably never heard of" as well as enjoying "Korean rice and food in general". Son added that "I always give 100 per cent for my country. It’s a great feeling to celebrate with my national team-mates," and even though his goal in the final was , the magnanimous forward explained that the tournament had "a great atmosphere and [was] a lot of fun!"

After his nation lost out in extra-time to Australia in the Asian Cup, Son is determined to ensure the same doesn’t happen to Leverkusen in the second leg of their Champions League tie with Atletico Madrid on 17 March. "I’m very confident," he explained about taking a 1-0 lead to the home of the Spanish champions. "We have a good advantage but we’ll have to play our game and have another good day in Madrid to advance."

Check out Son's top five Bundesliga goals on theBundesliga's official YouTube channel: