Son set to miss Asian Cup ties for participation in Asian Games

Bengaluru, August 1: Tottenham Hotspur have released South Korean star Son Heung Min for this month's Asian Games' football tournament.

However, the ace forward will miss the opening two games of South Korea's campaign during the 2019 AFC Asian Cup to be held in the UAE.

As per a new deal between Spurs and the Korea Football Association (KFA), Son will fly to Indonesia for the Asian Games -- where a gold medal is likely to win him exemption from military service -- after Spurs' Premier League season opener against Newcastle United on August 11.

Spurs had initially sought to keep Son back until August 18, when they have a Premier League match against Fulham.

That would have effectively kept the 26-year-old out of the group stage for Asia's mini-Olympics, where the football tournament runs from August 14 to September 2.

But Spurs later relented, striking a deal that rules Son out of South Korea's AFC Asian Cup games on January 7 and 11 against the Philippines and Kyrgyzstan, as well as an international friendly in November.

So Son Heung Min is going to play in the Asian Cup in Indon,has to win it or he needs to go to the military service and miss lots of games with Spurs. Pressure baq hang

— Darth Noire ® (@anuarul7) July 31, 2018

There are precedents for footballers being granted exemptions from South Korea's 21-month military service, as happened in 2002, when the national team reached the World Cup semifinals, and in 2014, when they won gold at the Asian Games in Incheon.

However, Son missed South Korea's triumph in 2014 when his former club, Bayer Leverkusen, refused to release him.

Son, who is on Spurs' pre-season tour of the United States, said he felt "sorry to be leaving my team-mates" for the Asian Games at the start of the Premier League season.

#SonHeungMin set to miss early Asian Cup rounds as part of compromise to allow #AsianGames participation https://t.co/I41yF2xLty #SouthKorea #Tottenham #THFC

— insidethegames (@insidethegames) July 31, 2018

"I am playing for my country and that's also important, but honestly I feel very sorry about that," he was quoted as saying by the Daily Mail.

Asian Games gold and a military service exemption would be a consolation for Son, who broke down in tears when South Korea were eliminated at the World Cup group stage despite stunning Germany 2-0 in their final game.

Son, who last month signed a new deal keeping him at Spurs until 2023, has emerged as one of the club's key players, scoring 47 goals in 140 appearances to become the top Asian scorer in Premier League history.

(With inputs from Agencies)