Son Heung-Min named Best Footballer in Asia for third time

Tottenham Hotspur continue to have the best Asian footballer on the planet in its side. Wide forward Son Heung-Min was awarded the Best Footballer in Asia award for 2018, making him the first player to win this award three times. He previously won the award in 2014 and 2015.

The Best Footballer in Asia is awarded by Titan Sports, an influential Chinese sports media group. The award separate from the AFC awards or the Asian awards, and is probably most closely related to the Ballon d’Or, which is awarded by France Football. The award is given to the Asian player who had the best performance for club and country over the past calendar year.

The award only started in 2013, which means that Sonny has now won the thing three out of the five years that it has been in existence. The other two winners were Keisuke Honda in 2013, and Shinji Okazaki in 2016.

That’s all well and good, but Sonny no doubt will be hoping to lift a different trophy this summer — either the World Cup with South Korea or the Asian Games trophy with Korea’s U23s, a result that would exempt him from mandatory military service.

Congrats to Son!