Son Heung-min

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Scholsey2004

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Really South Korea needs to do something for football players, they really are starting to become good and would only fully develop if they can be in the European leagues. Hopefully that stupid war somehow stops.
Its more of a cold war really. These things only end when there's an ideological change on one of the sides. I don't see the south Koreans jumping at the chance of living in a hermit nation dictatorship and there's not really much incentive for Kim to tone things down domestically. Gaddafi did that and the Libyans were dragging his carcass through the streets not long after.
 

Scholsey2004

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That's correct. Strange book at the first reading, but it's quite captivating at the end.
Musashi by Eiji Yoshikawa's supposedly the feudal Japan classic. I read the first half before getting distracted. That's interesting as well. We really don't know that much about the Japanese or asia in general. What struck me as really weird was that in feudal Japan Chinese takeaway restaurants were commonplace.
 

Steven7290

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I remember that in the book Shogun, the Japanese were rude toward Koreans, calling them dog eaters and saying that smelled like garlic.:)
Rude would be a nice way to put it (even that those maybe a little bit true:wenger:). I don't want to receive a warning from a mod so let's talk about it in another thread ifwe have a chance :D
 

TheReligion

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What a lot of shite, no way any club would stack up the money it would need for him only to risk losing him for 2 years. Plus it’s not like you need any more left side attacking players.
The media are in full shit season.

They have seen suggested Martial going to Spurs :lol:
 

Ekeke

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How often has Son played on the right for Spurs? I remember he took over Schurrle's spot on the left wing for Leverkusen when Chelsea signed him, then Spurs signed him. Any time I've seen him he's been on the left wing and last season he played just 2 matches on the right and then up front or to the left for Korea
 

gr3yham3

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After their win yesterday, some fans are calling for national service exemption for the players .....
 

LilyWhiteSpur

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After their win yesterday, some fans are calling for national service exemption for the players .....
No chance, only way will be to win gold or possibly a medal place at the Asian games, they take their national service very seriously in South Korea.
 

Sandikan

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No chance, only way will be to win gold or possibly a medal place at the Asian games, they take their national service very seriously in South Korea.
I wondered about the situation with military service with our own Park.

On the net I found
"All able bodied men aged 20 or older in South Korea are required to serve in the armed forces for at least 2 years. When the national team made it to the semi-final on their own turf In the 2002 World Cup, so the government revised the law to allow exemption for key players if a national team made it to the last 16."

The last 16 doesn't seem anywhere near as unrealistic as having to win or medal at major tournaments. Although obviously still beyond South Korea at the world cup just now!
 

mangumangu

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1.he is 27(korean age) and he must go korean army until 29?(korean age)

2.he must get gold medal (asian game) to release from duty
Asian game will hold (8.18~9.2)

3.south korea hadn't won asian game for 50 years

He is a good player but he cant come to mufc
 

TyroneSpong

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1.he is 27(korean age) and he must go korean army until 29?(korean age)

2.he must get gold medal (asian game) to release from duty
Asian game will hold (8.18~9.2)

3.south korea hadn't won asian game for 50 years

He is a good player but he cant come to mufc
Errr... they won it in 2014...
 

limerickcitykid

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I wondered about the situation with military service with our own Park.

On the net I found
"All able bodied men aged 20 or older in South Korea are required to serve in the armed forces for at least 2 years. When the national team made it to the semi-final on their own turf In the 2002 World Cup, so the government revised the law to allow exemption for key players if a national team made it to the last 16."

The last 16 doesn't seem anywhere near as unrealistic as having to win or medal at major tournaments. Although obviously still beyond South Korea at the world cup just now!
A South Korean doing his service posted on Reddit saying that isn't true. The link was posted here earlier. JSP was given an exemption then because South Korea were afraid of being embarrassed and being the first hosts ever to not make it past the group so they offered exemption by getting to round of 16. This led to baseball team complaining they deserve exemption and subsequently other athletes complaining too. The only ways now are Olympics or Asian games where people of all sports have an equal opportunity.
 

cloud218

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Just a random guy passing by that happens to be Korean.

Ji-Sung Park was given special exemption due to reaching the semi-finals in the 2002 World Cup. For Koreans to be able to qualify for being exempt in their national services, they have to win any of the medals in the Olympics and/or gold medal in the Asian Games. Son, I can't remember if it was Leverkeusen or Hamburg, but the club had opted against sending him to the previous one as they felt it was unnecessary. Had Korean gone to at least the quarter finals in the World Cup, there was a chance that special exemption may have been allowed, but that didn't happen.

So currently, Son, with the permission from Spurs is joining the Asian Games to help get a bye in the national services. I think the age limit was 28, and I think there was also a rule that the player needs to play at least a year prior to joining the Army team (Sangmu), to a domestic team (K-League). So unless he manages to find a way to get a Gold in the Asian games, it will be unlikely that he would end up moving to another club.
After all, it's a near-two year service in the army.
 

Gasolin

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That's a good deal for Son. Maybe the other team will just "lose" so that Son gets his exemption. :lol::lol::lol:
 

vangagal

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His opponent has been easy so far, even without him SK would reach final easily. At QF's stages they got Uzbekistan and Vietnam on SF round.
 

Spiersey

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His opponent has been easy so far, even without him SK would reach final easily. At QF's stages they got Uzbekistan and Vietnam on SF round.
Uzbekistan are a great youth side. This u23 gen isn't as good as the previous one. They'd have beat SK for sure.

SK are favourites v Japan in the final. Japan are much younger than everyone else + aren't very good. Maena up front is very poor. Created chancess v poor sides but can't take them, will struggle unless SK gift them goals like against Malaysia.
 

LilyWhiteSpur

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Isn’t it frowned upon to go to these lengths to avoid your national service?
What lengths? :wenger: So when Son was a kid he thought to himself “I know what I will do to avoid MS, I will become the best South Korean player of my generation and win a Tournament, that will get me off”.
 

VanHaal'sRedArmy

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No one 'wants' to do the mandatory ms, but when you share a border with one of the most dangerous countries in the world with the largest standing army, it becomes a necessity. I'm sure the national team wants to win for their country and not simply for the sake of avoiding ms. Son wouldn't have been in his position if he was part of the squad that won the last Asian Games. I'm glad Seung-Woo (Verona) was included in the squad for this tournament so that he doesn't suffer a similar dilemma in the future.
 

Nick7

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No one 'wants' to do the mandatory ms, but when you share a border with one of the most dangerous countries in the world with the largest standing army, it becomes a necessity. I'm sure the national team wants to win for their country and not simply for the sake of avoiding ms. Son wouldn't have been in his position if he was part of the squad that won the last Asian Games. I'm glad Seung-Woo (Verona) was included in the squad for this tournament so that he doesn't suffer a similar dilemma in the future.
Was that lad that Korean Messi at Barca?
 

Man of Leisure

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Was that lad that Korean Messi at Barca?
Yup, turned out he wasn't. Still could be a decent player for Korea's national team, mind you.

This looks like a good move on Levy's part if Son gains exemption. Then again Spurs didn't really have any other options but to let him go (plus Moura has been great in his absence). Bit of a gamble to give Son a contract extension prior to the Asian Games. Looks like it'll pay off.
 

Smores

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Hard not to want him to succeed even if he is a Spurs player. Very gifted player that shouldn't have to sit out part of his career for military service.
 

Sparky Rhiwabon

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What lengths? :wenger: So when Son was a kid he thought to himself “I know what I will do to avoid MS, I will become the best South Korean player of my generation and win a Tournament, that will get me off”.
Do you think he’d be missing the start of the season for this tournament otherwise?
 

ArseHat

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Highly doubt he would have missed the start of the season for this at his current level and age otherwise. Sure, if he was younger (like in 2014 when it was also hosted in his home country, but Leverkusen blocked him from going which prevented him from receiving the exemption then), but not now. I also doubt Tottenham would have released him to the S. Korean national team if military exemption wasn’t on the line. This isn’t the Asian Cup or even the Olympics, it’s a minor tournament and the standard of football is way below his level. However, since military exemption is on the line, it’s a no brainer for him to go since this will be his best shot at it, and he will in no way receive flack for playing in this tournament.
 

LilyWhiteSpur

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Highly doubt he would have missed the start of the season for this at his current level and age otherwise. Sure, if he was younger (like in 2014 when it was also hosted in his home country, but Leverkusen blocked him from going which prevented him from receiving the exemption then), but not now. I also doubt Tottenham would have released him to the S. Korean national team if military exemption wasn’t on the line. This isn’t the Asian Cup or even the Olympics, it’s a minor tournament and the standard of football is way below his level. However, since military exemption is on the line, it’s a no brainer for him to go since this will be his best shot at it, and he will in no way receive flack for playing in this tournament.
I don’t think he was anywhere near the player now as he is in 2014. He is the key player of his NT. Anyway I took you the wrong way in the initial post that he only became a footballer in order to get out of NS. If he has a chance to win a NT tournament and earn a by I see no problem with that.
 

ArseHat

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I don’t think he was anywhere near the player now as he is in 2014. He is the key player of his NT. Anyway I took you the wrong way in the initial post that he only became a footballer in order to get out of NS. If he has a chance to win a NT tournament and earn a by I see no problem with that.
Yes, he’s a much better player now than he was in 2014 which is why I mentioned it to be more plausible for him to want to play in the Asian games (which is for u23s) back then than now, as he’s currently way past that level and if not for the military exemption, would be a waste of his time.

It wasn’t me who made the initial post, but agreed, no S. Korean youngster will aspire to be a professional footballer with avoiding military service as their main motivation, although I don’t think that was the initial poster’s point either (I think his point was Son going to the lengths of playing in these Asian games, which he otherwise wouldn't have played, if not for the sole purpose of earning military exemption). Military exemption will definitely come into their minds and may serve as motivation when they get to a certain level (especially taking into account a footballer’s relatively short career), but definitely not as youngsters. There will be countless other reasons of dreaming to be a footballer other than having the opportunity for military exemption.
 

Sigma

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Hard not to want him to succeed even if he is a Spurs player. Very gifted player that shouldn't have to sit out part of his career for military service.
I too want him to succeed.
 

Sarni

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When does he have to serve his military service if they don’t win the final - is it a year or two away?
 

Sarni

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Got to report for military service before he's 30, so around another 3 years.
Ah, so he would still have another Asian Cup to win. Problem is that one is much more difficult because all teams are playing their best teams and Korea have 3-4 other teams close to their level.
 
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