Son Heung-min: South Korea can beat Brazil

DBasia.news – Son Heung-min has reminded fans not to be too dependent on the result when South Korea host Brazil in a friendly on Thursday and said it was important to help the team prepare for the World Cup.

The 29-year-old forward has returned from a successful season with Tottenham Hotspur to captain his country in June’s friendlies against Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Egypt as they prepare for their 10th consecutive World Cup finals trip.

However, the Taegeuk Warriors have lost five of their six meetings with Brazil over the years, and Son cautions against expecting unrealistic expectations.

“Obviously, our fans will want us to win and score a lot of goals, but not always everything goes the way we want,” said Son.

“I don’t think the results in these games matter. Even if we don’t play well, we have to try to take as many lessons as possible. We have to look to the World Cup and try to build the perfect team for that tournament.”

Nonetheless, Son believes South Korea should be able to match the five-time World Cup champions at the Seoul World Cup Stadium if they play to their full potential.

“If we can all play to the best of our ability then we can be competitive. We will have a lot of fans, and we will try to show them everything we have,” said Son.

“I hope we will face this challenge head-on, without fear. We have to enter the stadium believing we can play our game. That way, we will be able to identify the things we have to do.”

The match will pit Son against Brazilian forward Neymar and, as with South Korea’s growing stockpile, some consider it an equal battle.

Son paid little attention to the idea. “He’s one of the best in the world and I’m trying to get there,” Son said.