[Yonhap News Photo]
When it comes to his players' behavior on and off the field, South Korea men's football coach Uli Stielike is never the one to mince words.
Announcing his 23-man roster for next month's World Cup qualifiers Monday, Stielike discussed his selection of Tottenham Hotspur attacker Son Heung-min. The 24-year-old is on fire, with a pair of two-goal games over the past three rounds at the English Premier League, and was a no-brainer choice for the team that will face Qatar and Iran early next month.
Stielike agreed Son's on-field performance has been just fine, but said Son's behavior can be "problematic" at times.
"As many people have already seen from the stands or on television, I think his behavior away from the field can be problematic," he said. "Unless he gets his act together and changes his attitude, I will have to think about the rest of the team as the coach. All players have to be careful."
Stielike didn't point to any particular case, but he was apparently referring to the incident late in the World Cup qualifier against China on September 1.
Stielike took Son out of the match in the final moments, with South Korea hanging on to a 3-2 lead after building a 3-0 advantage. The visibly frustrated player kicked at a water bottle on the ground. After the coach embraced him and shared a few words with him, Son turned and kicked dirt.
The 24-year-old later explained it was his competitive side acting up on him, but he was still heavily criticized for his cantankerous act. And it wasn't the first time he'd been in hot water for similar acts. After a friendly loss to Spain in June, Son had to apologize for throwing a towel toward the bench after getting lifted.
Stielike also touched upon some Korean players' trouble with their club coaches. Lee Chung-yong of Crystal Palace was fined by the Premier League club for criticizing his coach, Alan Pardew, in an interview with a South Korean online outlet late last season. Swansea City midfielder Ki Sung-yueng refused to shake hands with his coach Francesco Guidolin after being subbed during a loss to Southampton earlier this month, prompting the Italian boss to say, "This is not a good attitude."
"If the players keep showing this type of behavior, I don't think it helps the players themselves or Korean football as a whole," Stielike said.
"I will speak to the whole team about this. They have to recognize they are under a constant spotlight, and they must act accordingly on and off the field. Rather than showing their emotions away from the pitch, I'd like to see players channel that energy into their performance on it."
(Yonhap)
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
