"It has not been a perfect past year for Son. Despite his best efforts, South Korea crashed out of the World Cup group stages, and lost the Asian Cup final to an injury time goal to the Socceroos," the magazine, FourFourTwo, said in its latest issue published Wednesday (local time).
"Yet the forward emerged from both competitions with his reputation enhanced. That was no surprise, given his importance to both club and country over the last 12 months," it said.
The magazine noted that Leverkusen refused to release him for the 2014 Asian Games, adding that the 23-year-old struck double digits for a second Bundesliga campaign running. He scored 11 goals in 24 appearances in the German Bundesliga in this season.
FSV Mainz's Japanese attacker Shinji Okazaki and Swansea City's South Korean midfielder Ki Sung-yueng were ranked second and third on FourFourTwo's 50 Best Asian Players 2015 list, respectively.
"Okazaki has been a model of consistency. The striker has continued scoring regularly for Japan and Mainz, breaking records on both fronts while hardly missing a game," it said.
Regarding South Korean midfielder Ki, the magazine said, he "has now become the first Asian to score eight goals in a single season, with three matches to go. He hasn't forgot his original role as a defensive midfielder either, providing a shield for Swansea's back four and contributing to the team’s build-up play with a pass accuracy of 90 percent."
Six other South Korean players joined the ranks of the top 50. They were FC Seoul's defender Cha Du-ri (13th), Guangzhou Evergrande's defender Kim Young-gwon (20th), TSG Hoffenheim's defender Kim Jin-su (23rd), FSV Mainz's defender Koo Ja-cheol (30th), Saudi Al Hilal's defender Kwak Tae-hwi (39th) and FSV Mainz's defender Park Joo-ho (45th).
Six other South Korean players joined the ranks of the top 50. They were FC Seoul's defender Cha Du-ri (13th), Guangzhou Evergrande's defender Kim Young-gwon (20th), TSG Hoffenheim's defender Kim Jin-su (23rd), FSV Mainz's defender Koo Ja-cheol (30th), Saudi Al Hilal's defender Kwak Tae-hwi (39th) and FSV Mainz's defender Park Joo-ho (45th).
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
