Striker Son Heung-min on May 22 celebrates with his Tottenham Hotspur teammates after scoring in his team's final game of the English Premier League's 2021-22 season against host Norwich City at the stadium Carrow Road in Norwich, England. (Tottenham's official website)

By Park Hye Ri

Korea.net on Dec. 21 selected national soccer team captain Son Heung-min, who led Korea's "Miracle of Doha" in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, as the 2022 Person of the Year. 

 
The website's staff writers voted for candidates nominated based on the number of articles written about them this year and their contributions to promoting Korea to the world.

Other nominees included President Yoon Suk Yeol, who took office in May, director Park Chan-wook, who won Best Director for "Decision to Leave" at the Cannes Film Festival, and K-pop sensations BTS and BLACKPINK.

Son received the majority of the votes to win Person of the Year. Chinese-language staff writer Xu Aiying said, "Along with several astonishing results, Son showed superb leadership at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as national team captain," while French-language colleague Jung Joo-ri added, "Despite injury, Son still captained the team and helped it advance to the round of 16." Arabic-language writer Israa Mohamed said, "It was impressive to see a player highly recognized for his skills lead and do his best in the World Cup despite injury."

Son Heung-min on May 22 poses for a photo after winning the Golden Boot, the honor going to the EPL's leading scorer for the season (Tottenham's official website) 

Early last month, Son faced a major crisis before the Qatar World Cup due to an unexpected injury.

In Tottenham Hotspur's final group game of the UEFA Champions League against host Marseille of France on Nov. 2, Son's face violently collided with the shoulder of Marseille defender Chancel Mbemba. The Korean underwent surgery to treat four fractures on his left eye. 

With the player's status for the tournament in doubt, the media and fans raised voices of worry. But Son expressed his strong will to compete at the World Cup, writing in an Instagram post that even a 1% possibility is enough for him to work hard to prepare to play. 

Wearing a black protective mask on his face and captain's armband on his left arm, Son led the Taegeuk Warriors to the World Cup's round of 16 for the first time in 12 years in presenting Korea its hottest winter. 

A safety mask-wearing Son Heung-min on Dec. 2 goes on the attack in the final Group H game against Portugal of the FIFA World Cup at Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar. (Yonhap News)

In third grade, Son expressed his dream to go pro in soccer and spent his early years receiving tough training from his father, former pro player Son Woong-jeong. Up until his final year of middle school, he had undergone over six years intensive daily training of six hours to learn the basics of the sport. 

Joining the youth team of the German Bundesliga's Hamburg SV in 2008, Son in 2010 signed a four-year contract with the senior team to make his European debut. He joined Bayer Leverkusen in 2013 and later moved to the English Premier League (EPL) in 2015 to wear the uniform of his present team Spurs. 

Playing left wing and forward, Son is known for his speed and outstanding judgement when scoring, earning the nicknames "Sonsational," "Sonshine" and "Tottenham's Troubleshooter." He topped the EPL Power Ranking of the British channel Sky Sports in the 2021-22 season and became the first Asian to score 20 goals in a single season, emerging as a world-class star.

On May 22, Son scored two consecutive goals in his team's EPL season finale against host Norwich City at Carrow Road in Norwich, England, to share the Golden Boot, the honor for the league's leading scorer for the season. 

Upon Son making history as the first Asian to earn the award, Sky Sports said "no words can describe him" and called him "completely on another level." 

On Dec. 13, he departed Korea for London to rejoin Spurs. His journey after the World Cup begins on Dec. 26 in an away game against Brentford in the 17th round of the EPL season.