‘Son Heung-min’, the best Asian player in the European club competition?

Tottenham’s Son Heung-min chases the ball during the English Premier League soccer match between Burnley and Tottenham Hotspur at Turf Moor stadium Burnley, England, Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.(Jason Cairnduff/Pool via AP)

The record of Korean players who performed outstandingly in European football is being talked about.

The European Football Federation (UEFA) introduced the records written by Cha Bum-geun, Park Ji-sung, Son Heung-min (Tottenham), and Hwang Hee-chan (Leipzig), while referring to the best Asian players of all time who made the European club competition (Champions League, Europa League, etc.).

On the 13th, the UEFA website posted an article titled’Minamino, Azmoon, Son Heung-min, Hwang Hee-chan: Who is the best Asian player who performed the best in the UEFA Champions League?’ According to the introduced record, Son Heung-min was the player who scored the most goals in European club competitions (including Champions League and Europa League). With 19 goals in the UEFA Champions League (including 2 qualifying goals) and 6 goals in the Europa League (including 1 qualifying goal), he scored 25 goals, beating Maxim Shatskikh (23 goals in Uzbekistan) to the top. Hwang Hee-chan, who scored 11 goals, tied for third place with Sardar Azmun (Iran) and Minamino Takumi (Japan). Cha Beom-geun also made a name with his dark juniors. He finished 7th with 10 goals in the UEFA Cup (now Europa League) during Leverkusen.

In terms of the UEFA Champions League (including the qualifier) ​​alone, Son Heung-min was second in the scoring ranking after Shatzkich (23 goals), and Hwang Hee-chan and Park Ji-seong, who scored five goals side by side, were tied for fourth.

Park Ji-sung ranked third after Vladimir Maminov (Uzbek, 76 matches) and Shatzkich (75 matches) with 70 times in the most recent Asian player appearances in the European club competition. Son Heung-min ranked fourth with 66 times. In the rankings for the UEFA Champions League only, Park Ji-sung (59 innings) ranked second, Son Heung-min (50 innings) 3rd, and Lee Young-pyo (20 innings) ranked 9th.

In the’First Record’ category, Korean players stood out. Cha Bum-geun was the first Asian player to compete in the European club competition finals. He won the 1979-1980 UEFA Cup final in Frankfurt (Germany). Park Ji-sung, who participated in the 2010-2011 UEFA Champions League final during Manchester United (England), was the first Asian player to be in the’UEFA Champions League Final’.

Reporter Kang Gu-yeol [email protected]

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