South Korea have lost their identity – with and without talisman Son Heung-min

When the final whistle blew, some South Korea players lay sprawled on the floor. Others dropped to their haunches, including an inconsolable Lee Kang-in. Son Heung-min just stood and took it all in, as if he couldn’t believe what had just happened at Estadio Monterrey.

South Africa had beaten them to second place in Group A, sealing a historic first World Cup knockout-phase spot. Their shock 1-0 win pushed Son and company into third, where they now face a frustrating wait to confirm their participation in the round of 32 next week. The Athletic’s tracker gives them a 94 per cent chance of progressing, with a likely tie against the winners of Group G (Egypt, Iran or Belgium) in Seattle to follow.

This was not how their night was supposed to go. Their fans had come to north-east Mexico in great numbers, from back home in Seoul, Frankfurt in Germany and in some cases much closer, to see their heroes finally get their World Cup campaign up and running after a stop-start opening two group matches.

A win or draw against South Africa in their final one would have seen them advance to a knockout tie against Canada in Los Angeles, which would have felt like a home match in a city with one of the largest Korean populations outside of East Asia.

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The vast majority of South Korea shirts on display before kick-off showed ‘Heung-min, 7’ on the back. The performance that followed called into question the team’s identity with and without their 33-year-old talisman.

Son is South Korea’s most-loved son and captain.

He is the man who became a Tottenham Hotspur legend and the first Asian player to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot in 2022. He helped deliver iconic World Cup victories against defending champions Germany in 2018 (when South Korea were eliminated at the group stage despite that win) and Portugal four years ago in Qatar to take them to the round of 16. He is their record appearance-maker and just two shy of becoming their joint-record goalscorer, too.

His status in his home country is unlikely to change — but he is seemingly not untouchable anymore.

That, at least, was the message that appeared to be sent by head coach Hong Myung-bo when he dropped Son to the bench for this crucial game. “Playing for the second half seemed better for both the team and himself, considering the opponents’ stamina,” Hong said before the match. “That’s why he is starting on the bench.”

Son has not had an easy time of it this year: he has yet to score in 13 Major League Soccer appearances for LAFC this season (he does have eight assists) and was poor in South Korea’s opening two games, getting substituted before the hour against Mexico last Thursday just after the co-hosts scored the night’s only goal. His most recent World Cup goal was in that win against Germany eight years and seven appearances ago. There have been questions over whether he is being used in his best position, with club and country playing him at No 9.

But it was still a bold call from Hong.

Son wasn’t the only mainstay left out of the starting line-up — 107-cap winger Lee Jae-sung, also 33, was benched, too, after starting against the Czech Republic and Mexico. In their places, Hong opted for an interchangeable front three of Wolverhampton Wanderers’ Hwang Hee-chan, Besiktas striker Oh Hyeon-gyu and Paris Saint-Germain winger Lee Kang-in.

It didn’t work.

Lee went quiet after bursting into the penalty area and sending a shot wide in the seventh minute, Hwang was largely anonymous and Oh’s performance was best summed up when he fell over the ball early in the second half.

So, Hong turned to the tried-and-tested option: Son.

He emerged at half-time to huge cheers and wearing the captain’s armband… but then did very little.

He channelled Lionel Messi in walking around, scanning for opportunities, but the comparisons stopped there. Son touched the ball just 29 times — his second-lowest total in a World Cup finals match. The lowest? The 19 he produced in those 57 minutes against Mexico in Guadalajara six days earlier.

“We thought that Sonny would be better placed when they were losing their energy,” Hong said after the game, echoing his pre-match comments. “And when we could see more spaces to barge in, between the opponents’ defensive line — that’s why we wanted Sonny at his strongest, when the opponents were a bit weaker.”

But there was none of that desired energy, perhaps in part caused by his positioning. As the graphic below shows, his touches were largely concentrated in the central part of the pitch — exactly where he has struggled to make an impact recently. In the closing stages, he drifted out to the left in the hope of creating something, but to no avail.

Son’s fondest memories in terms of watching the World Cup are of the 2002 squad, captained by Hong, finishing fourth at the tournament South Korea co-hosted with Japan. In an interview with FIFA before this year’s edition, Hong said that now felt like “ancient history” for some of his younger players and that he preferred to focus on the future.

“If our players continue to grow in confidence and build trust in one another, I believe we can be one of the top teams rather than a side just capable of producing the occasional upset,” the 57-year-old said.

For every South Korea win against Germany in Russia or Portugal in Qatar, there have been defeats to Sweden, Mexico and Ghana, where they arguably should have beaten those teams, given their talent. They have yet to make it past the World Cup’s round of 16 since that run to the semi-finals on home soil 24 years ago.

It was unclear what Hong’s plan was in either half of the pitch on Wednesday, and that will be the most worrying thing for South Korea supporters. Regardless of whether Son plays or not, this team just don’t know what they are yet.