The final issue of Son Heung-who in the Tottenham shirt had all the emotion to expect-but it also seemed like a laughter moment that only Korea could lead.
Spurs legend had 65 minutes in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle United in a pre-season friendship in Seoul, which marked the end of a 10-year glittering career with the club. As he left the pitch, a son was awarded an honor guard touching the two sets of players and was visibly moved, and erased the tears in front of a crowd of the home they worshiped.
After more than 450 appearances, a number of goals, and a long-awaited European trophy, the 33rd year is now set to join the MLS Side Los Angeles FC.
But before the surreal arrived.
A day before the match, his son and his teammate Spurs were treated for a cultural welcome in the capital of South Korea, where they met with a local celebrity-and the literal giant-Choi Hong-Man. The former MMA fighter, known as the “Korean Colossus,” is 7’2 “and weighs at 160kg.
Of course, he put that hulking frame to work by picking up the child and spreading him like a child, very much for the front entertainment. Choi later fought with other Spurs players, who locks Pape Matar Sarr in Barhug and left Richarlison visibly stunned by his immense size.
Staple of the K-1 scene and MMA in the 2000s, Choi famously fought with heavy weight icons Fedor Emelianenko and Mirko Cro Cop, and was even briefly engaged to face Brock Lesnar before a medical issue scraped the bout.
With his strong frame and wrestling background, it is tempting to imagine Choi Hong-Man who gives himself football. He may not have the fineness of the son, but at 7’2 “, he would be unstoppable in the air-imagine trying to mark him in a corner.
Peter Crouch, eating your heart out.
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2025-08-05 23:05:00