South Korea's soccer dreams were shattered when they were eliminated by Jordan in the heated AFC Asian Cup semi-final, making an early exit from the Asian soccer event. This also marks the 64th consecutive year that they have not touched the Asian Cup trophy. Captain Son Heung-min, the man of the moment on the pitch, was left with no goals for the entire match, his performance slipping significantly, turning him from the hero of the previous match into a target. After the match, he broke down in tears and apologized to the public, realizing that his chances of winning the title for the national team were fading away.
Son Heung-min has played in the Asian Cup four times but has never been able to touch the glory of winning the tournament, with his best finish coming in 2015 when he was runner-up, losing to Australia in the final. He has also finished third once, quarterfinals once and last eight once. After this match, he was left alone on the court to meditate before falling to his knees, bending over and crying. In the interview, he could hardly hide his sadness and apologized more than 10 times: I should have played better in return for the fans' support, I'm sorry, I'll try harder. I really don't know what to say, I'm very sorry, all of our players have done their best, I'm very sorry that the game ended this way because of our mistakes, the fans gave us great support, I'm really very sorry that we didn't live up to the fans' expectations.
The 31-year-old Son Heung-min has left regrets on the stage of the Asian Cup, and he is confused about whether he will still be able to play for the national team in the future: I don't know if I will continue to play for the national team, I don't know if the coach still wants me, and I don't know what the future will be like. I know a lot of people have criticized the team leader (Kieran Swann), who brought me to the Asian Cup to win the tournament, and I'm very disappointed with the result of the semi-final, and the team leader has been under a lot of pressure and criticism as a result.
