Son Heung-Min surgery successful, with hopes of World Cup participation

Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-Min had surgery on Friday to repair the bones around his eye, which were fractured in four places after a collision with Marseille’s Chancel Mbemba in a Champions League match. The injury was severe enough that there was some question as to whether Son, the South Korea team captain and best player, would be able to participate for his country in the World Cup in Qatar later this month.

There’s good news on that front today courtesy of Mike McGrath in the Daily Telegraph. According to McGrath, Son’s surgery went “as well as could be hoped,” well enough that the club feels optimistic that Son will be able to be ready in time for Korea’s first World Cup match on November 24 against Rodrigo Bentancur and Uruguay.

That’s unquestionably good news for Son and for Korea, but obviously not for Tottenham. His recovery means that Son will almost certainly miss all of Tottenham’s remaining three upcoming matches — against Liverpool tomorrow, the EFL Cup tie at Nottingham Forest mid-week, and the home match against Leeds on November 12.

Son’s injury puts them in a temporary injury crisis. While Dejan Kulusevski has returned to full training and is expected to feature at least in a limited capacity tomorrow, Spurs are still without Richarlison, Son, and Cristian Romero. Antonio Conte also reported that attacker Lucas Moura was experiencing tendonitis ahead of the Liverpool match. We don’t yet know how Conte will opt to set up his team against Liverpool with these injuries in mind.

Sonny will almost certainly be playing in the World Cup in a mask, like the one worn by Manchester City attacker Kevin De Bruyne, who experienced a similar injury in 2021. Korea are in a tough World Cup group, drawn with the aforementioned Uruguay, Ghana, and Portugal.