Son and Kane lead 6-3 Spurs romp to delight South Korean fans

Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min (C) reacts with Team K League's Kim Ji-soo (L) and Kim Young-kwang (R) after the exhibition football match between Tottenham Hotspur and Team K League at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul on July 13, 2022. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
Local hero Son Heung-min delighted his South Korean fans by
scoring twice as Tottenham Hotspur beat a K-League select team 6-3 in a wildly
entertaining pre-season friendly in Seoul on Wednesday.
The English Premier League Golden Boot winner Son and Harry Kane,
who bagged two goals, both appeared just for the second half as manager Antonio
Conte gave his full squad a run out in their first preseason match.
"Despite the fact that many players only started their
preseason three days ago, others have had only 10 days, it was a good
game," said Conte.
"The most important thing is to bring on all the players
to get fit."
Both Son and Kane had every move cheered raucously by a
64,000 sellout crowd at Seoul's World Cup Stadium, even when just warming up on
the touchline during the first half.
"Amazing supporters, amazing performance," said Son
after doing a lap of honour after the final whistle.
"It's the first game of the season, so I am really
pleased with it and grateful they came out in such rainy weather. I really,
really enjoyed that."
Defender Eric Dier opened the scoring for Spurs with a
thumping left-foot drive in the 29th minute.
Team K-League equalised from Cho Gue-sung's header to make it
1-1 at half-time before the match exploded in a frenzy of goals after the
break.
Spurs started with their new 60 million pound signing from
Everton, Richarlison, up front, and after a lively first 45 minutes the
Brazilian was joined by Kane.
It took just two minutes for the England captain to make an
impact, whipping in a cross from the right which Kim Jin-hyuk turned into his
own net with Richarlison lurking.
Son was then brought on to huge cheers but the K-League side
spoiled the party by levelling for a second time on 52 minutes through South
African international Lars Veldwijk.
Two minutes later Kane restored Tottenham's lead with a
trademark left-foot finish from outside the box.
Japan international Amano Jun then inexplicably handled to
give Spurs a penalty, which Son converted to send his fans into a frenzy.
Amano made amends two minutes later by smashing home a
free-kick, however deadly partnership Kane and Son, after the K-league team had
been reduced to 10 men, sealed a see-saw match with a further goal apiece.
"I am satisfied with the intensity of the players. I
didn't ask for anything today," said Conte after the match, which was
played at a high pace throughout.
"To score six goals was positive, to concede three goals
was negative -- and for sure we need to improve."
Tottenham's arrival at Incheon Airport was greeted by
thousands of fans and another 6,000 were at an open training session trying to
get a glimpse of their heroes.
"I want to thank everyone who came here to watch the
game," said Conte.
"It was amazing the welcome that we received at the
airport and to play in front of 60,000 people despite it being a friendly.
"For me, the club, it's a privilege and an honour to
play in Korea."
Tottenham play their final match of their South Korea tour
against Spain's Sevilla at Suwon's World Cup Stadium on Saturday.
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