Recent off beating the reigning world champions Germany of their first match of the 2018 World Cup, a second win would basically make a spot within the knockouts a close to certainty. El Tri had been the favorites towards South Korea however victory isn’t a certain factor, which is why an enclave of Mexico followers in Los Angeles’ Koreatown neighborhood had been harassed on a nice Saturday morning.
“I used to be watching it with the Mexican homies subsequent to me and the way in which by which they talked [about Son Heung-min] with the reverence and the worry of a star participant,” Josh Lee, a longtime Los Angeles resident and co-founder of LAFC’s Koreatown-based Tigers Supporters Group, mentioned. “The way in which that everybody type of gasped for air as quickly as he touched the ball, as a result of something that he does is feasible.”
The Mexico followers Lee watched that match would breathe a sigh of aid on the closing whistle, a 2-1 win over South Korea leaving them in good standing for a spot within the spherical of 16 (even when they wanted Son to attain in South Korea’s Group F finale towards Germany to make sure El Tri would survive a 3-0 loss to Sweden, a objective that may forever endear Son to them). El Tri, although, didn’t go away the match unscathed – Son scored a stellar curling objective from distance in stoppage time, reminding onlookers he was simply weeks faraway from an 18-goal season with Tottenham Hotspur.
“The unimaginable quantity of respect, the rivalry between the international locations, I used to be like, wow, we lastly have certainly one of our personal,” Lee recalled. “That is what this man can do in 90 minutes. It is stunning.”
On Sunday, Lee and his fellow LAFC supporters will lastly welcome Son to Los Angeles for his first house sport since becoming a member of the MLS membership this month, however it’s unlikely to be an extraordinary house debut for a high-profile participant. Sunday’s match towards San Diego FC might mark the beginning of a transfer that seems like a pure match for Son, who will reside in a metropolis that homes the biggest variety of ethnic Koreans outdoors of the Korean peninsula, in addition to a brand new chapter in MLS’ star-studded historical past written by a first-of-his-kind star.
The Son Heung-min impact
“I joined right here to make MLS larger.”
Son will not be the primary to drop this variety of a one-liner in an interview, clearly illustrating the plain worth a participant of his caliber brings to an MLS membership or the league as a complete. The primary would be the pure on-field high quality that the Premier League’s sixteenth all-time biggest goalscorer brings, a ability he has shortly displayed in MLS with a objective and an help in his first three video games.
His star energy, although, means Son conjures up an extended record of off-field advantages for LAFC, very similar to the stars that got here earlier than him in MLS. LAFC’s announcement of Son’s arrival on August 6 had a worldwide attain 5 instances bigger than their earlier best-performing submit, the 2022 acquisition of Son’s ex-Tottenham Hotspur teammate, Gareth Bale, and the membership’s social media content material earned an estimated 33.98 billion views in early August. Since then, the 33-year-old has generated 339 million impressions and 14 million engagements throughout LAFC and MLS’ social media accounts, whereas a TikTok of Son successful a penalty in his LAFC debut on the Chicago Hearth is MLS’ second-best performing submit on social media in 2025 with 26 million impressions. LAFC say the social media consideration has translated to in-stadium demand, a brand new standing-room-only part absolutely offered out.
“I believe that opens the door for brand spanking new alternatives,” Scott Rosner, the educational director of the sports activities administration program at Columbia College, mentioned, “to manifest themselves and for the league to benefit from it.”
Not like the opposite world-class gamers who’ve carried out stints in MLS, Son is the primary massive identify from Asia, a continent that has not historically produced soccer abilities with the on-field ability and the off-field adoration that outline a celebrity. It presents a novel alternative for LAFC and MLS to realize entry to an untapped market, each when it comes to audiences and potential enterprise companions.
“The very first thing you consider with that is [that] you’ll be able to see a carry from gate receipts as a result of there’s new followers that wish to come out however the sponsorship side of it, I believe, is basically vital, probably,” Rosner mentioned. “From a brand-building perspective, I believe it helps. He will definitely open the door for extra followers.”
LAFC and MLS won’t solely have Inter Miami’s Lionel Messi to make use of as a blueprint to maximise the financial impression of Son’s arrival, however may look to MLB for examples. Shohei Ohtani was reportedly worth $10 million to $20 million in extra revenue annually in the direction of the top of his spell with the LA Angels and his annual impression on the Dodgers’ income is on the 9 determine mark, particularly so after opening the pathway for the baseball membership to signal priceless sponsorship offers with Japanese corporations. Earlier than Ohtani, there was Ichiro Suzuki, who reportedly drove Japanese tourists to visit Seattle during his spell with the Mariners. The similarities are sufficient to see Son stand on the mound at Dodger Stadium, a possibility reserved for these with star energy however Son in MLS will not be an apples to apples comparability to Ohtani or Suzuki in MLB. There are, although, similarities to remove from the reactions every athlete conjures up of their fanbases, Son’s stint within the U.S. prone to encourage a novel model of a well-known sample.
“I believe the Asian diaspora – whether or not it is Filipino, Japanese, Korean – it is an fascinating one as a result of all of us assist an Asian face however I believe the Japaneseness of Shohei, the Koreanness of Son ought to be celebrated in its personal other ways,” Lee mentioned. “The identical means the [Japanese] neighborhood has actually elevated Shohei in a brand new gentle, I am wanting ahead to the Korean neighborhood, for certain, elevating Son. … I’ve a ton of Asian buddies who simply love Son for being consultant sufficient and that is actually cool to see.”
‘Son is for everybody’
The trail to financial impression is paved with probably the most intangible high quality of all – an affability that transcends merely being likable, one which creates a decent, emotional grip between a star and their scores of adoring followers. Son has that in spades, particularly within the Korean diaspora.
“I really feel like he is nearly a nationwide treasure for Korea contemplating how profitable he is been,” Casey Phair, a Korean worldwide at the moment on mortgage at Djurgardens from the NWSL’s Los Angeles-based Angel Metropolis. “He is type of put Korean soccer on the map in kind of that sense and I believe the exceptional profession he is had overseas has actually been inspirational, not just for Korean athletes I believe but additionally only for Korean individuals basically. I might say not simply athletes, however I believe simply each Korean particular person would say that he is crucial in Korea.”
Lengthy earlier than his transfer to LAFC was a actuality, Son was a fixture of Korean tradition. His ambassadorial high quality in MLS is merely a continuation of his years-long standing because the face of Korean soccer, steadily talking about his nationwide delight and recognizing Spurs’ sizable Korean fanbase as a hallmark of his 10-year spell with the north London membership. It appears as if each member of the Korean neighborhood has an opinion about Son, and it appears to be an more and more glowing one.
“He has actually bucked among the stereotypes round what an Asian footballer may be and might produce,” Lee mentioned. “Any sports activities followers is aware of there is a mannequin of participant and that is oftentimes racially tinged about what a tradition is able to producing so the hardworking, diligent Korean, in so many alternative methods, was represented by the unimaginable [ex-Manchester United midfielder] Park Ji-sung. However as a result of he was so good at what he did and he saved his head down and he let his actions communicate for him, I believe individuals simply assumed that is all Korean soccer was able to producing after which whenever you see somebody like Son Heung-min who, as a younger man, grew into this unimaginable one who streamed on the touchline, has an unimaginable left foot, proper foot, ending abilities, turns into a golden boot winner of the Premier League, he transcended what we believed was doable for an Asian footballer and as stark as I may be, that meant that individuals checked out Korean individuals otherwise, in a special gentle.”
That transcendent nature, although, makes Son a fan favourite for these outdoors of the Korean neighborhood.
“The factor about him is for me, it is the enjoyment he performs with,” Steve Pritchard, a London native and lifelong Tottenham fan who now calls Los Angeles house and is an LAFC season ticket holder, mentioned. “I believe the most effective phrase is pleasure and I believe that having that, even when Spurs have been going by some powerful years, watching him continues to be pleasing regardless, proper? He is scored improbable objectives towards Burnley and Arsenal and simply realizing that on any given day, he can do one thing that you just by no means noticed earlier than and in addition simply realizing that each sport, he was going to present his all. He turned the epitome of what Spurs followers need from a participant, it is any person who really desires to play the sport. You understand the entire cliche, ‘the sport is about glory,’ it is any person who was enjoying soccer the way in which we like to look at soccer. Seeing that and simply seeing his ability, his tempo, his smile, all the pieces about it was only a privilege.”
Son’s was an unlikely path to superstardom however it’s an plain one, on clear show on the participant’s closing match for Tottenham in a preseason pleasant towards Newcastle United in Seoul. Each groups gave Son a guard of honor, one thing Newcastle supervisor Eddie Howe mentioned was not deliberate from his aspect however “instinctive.”
“His historical past, his information, his legacy speaks for itself however not simply at Tottenham, within the Premier League as effectively,” Ryan Mason, Son’s former Spurs teammate and the present West Bromwich Albion supervisor, mentioned. “I believe he was somebody that was so well-respected, appreciated for what he’d carried out on the soccer pitch. He was a person that had some unimaginable moments, scored some unimaginable objectives, skilled, humble, a very good particular person … Everybody at Tottenham, everybody in England loves him and now I am fairly certain everybody in America goes to like him as effectively.”
In MLS, Son could have the possibility to take pleasure in his well-defined legacy. Lee mentioned 100 mini Korean flags within the north finish of BMO Stadium for Son’s house debut on Sunday, replicating a well-known sight at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium as Koreans watched a participant who impressed an unimaginable sense of nationwide delight. That may seemingly solely be one function of Son’s gravitational pull, although.
“He’s for everybody,” Lee mentioned. “We’re speaking concerning the Koreanness of Son however I used to be like, now he belongs to all of us. He belongs to this metropolis. This isn’t just for the Latino neighborhood right here however for the Asian neighborhood, for the Armenian neighborhood, for the Black neighborhood which might be all touching LAFC. He is for all of us and I believe that is the similarity of Shohei, that everybody can discover a piece to determine with and that they’ll deliver house and be actually proud about.”
