From the archives | Sonny's first programme interview, 2015

Continuing our From The Archives series, as we step back into European competition, we turn the clock back to September, 2015 and Heung-Min Son's first interview in our official matchday programme...

Sonny made quite an impact in his first few weeks at the club - scoring his first Spurs goals against this week's first opponents in the league phase of the UEFA Europa League, Qarabag, on his home debut on 17 September and following up with the winner against Crystal Palace, his first Premier League goal, three days later at the Lane on 20 September.

With all that in mind, there was plenty to talk about when he sat down for his first full interview for our next home programme against Arsenal, of all teams, in the League Cup on 23 September...

2015 | Son-day best!

From our official matchday programme, Spurs vs Arsenal, 15 September, 2015

His name is a headline writer's dream, but Heung-Min Son doesn't need to rely on any wordplay to grab people’s attention.

For the exciting, attacking brand of football he has produced since his arrival at the club, not to mention scoring three goals in his first three games, means it comes as little surprise that he is the man everybody is talking about at the moment.

Signing for us at the end of last month following two successful seasons at German side Bayer Leverkusen, where he twice helped the Bundesliga outfit qualify for the Champions League and scored 29 goals in 87 appearances, the South Korean international has made an immediate impact upon his introduction to English football.

And he confirms he’s delighted with the way his first few weeks in North London have unfolded.

"Firstly, it’s a big honour to play for Spurs," said the man known as ‘Sonny’, who has become the second South Korean player to represent the club after Young-Pyo Lee, who played for us between 2005 and 2008. "I feel good because Tottenham have shown a huge amount of faith in recruiting me and I know that I have to show what I can do and better myself for the benefit of everybody here.

“I am also very pleased and honoured to work together with good players such as Harry Kane, Christian Eriksen and all the players at Spurs. I’d like to help them perform and, together with them, make our team even more successful.

"I’m really happy every day in training and when playing matches too. The other players are really good guys. The staff are good to me as well and have helped me every day.

"I've always dreamed about playing in the Premier League since I was a child, so my dream is coming true now."

Handed his Premier League debut in our 1-0 win at Sunderland 10 days ago, the lively attacker impressed with his willingness to get on the ball and drive forward. Four days later he ran out here at the Lane for the first time as we took on Azerbaijani side Qarabag in the Europa League – and what a memorable occasion it proved to be for the young man!

With the team trailing 1-0, he showed his predatory instincts to rattle in two goals in three minutes to turn the scoreline around – his brace acting as the catalyst for our eventual 3-1 victory.

Reflecting on that performance, he underlined his joy at scoring twice on his home debut but reserved praise for our supporters and the tremendous atmosphere they created on the night.

"I don’t know what to say – the fans were really amazing!" beamed our new number seven, who scored 20 goals in 78 appearances for Hamburg over a three-year period before joining Bundesliga rivals Leverkusen in 2013. "I’ve played five years in Germany but the fans here are different, amazing!

"I said after the game at Sunderland that I can play much better and on Thursday I don’t know if I did that, but I was just really happy that we won on my home debut and that I scored two goals.

"The first goal was so quick for me. Andros Townsend crossed from our corner and the ball came to me as a bit of a surprise. It was nice to score though.

"Dele Alli helped me for the second goal. Dele is a very good player, he’s young, he has talent and I like him as a player because I can understand him well. After I scored I hoped to help Dele to score as well but it wasn’t to be."

On Sunday, Sonny continued where he'd left off against Qarabag by netting the only goal of the game to give us a 1-0 home win over Crystal Palace and three more points in the Premier League.

Once again showing his verve and trickery by consistently nipping in to win the ball back from unsuspecting opponents and quickly taking us back on the attack, he produced the decisive moment mid-way through the second half, receiving the ball from a returning Christian Eriksen on the counter-attack before finishing well from the left angle.

"It was hard work, Crystal Palace were strong, but I’m really happy because we won the game and I scored,” he reflected.

"Palace have a good team, some good attackers and it was difficult for us, but we really wanted to win the game and every player worked hard to achieve that. It was amazing."

And on his winning goal: "Christian played the ball to me and I was one-against-one against the centre-back.

"I put the ball onto my left foot and shot. Perhaps it was a little lucky, but it was really amazing. The fans were incredible again and I was so happy."

In spite of his recent heroics, Sonny – who speaks English to a good standard but has opted to give some of his initial interviews in Korean in order to fully express himself – insists he’s not going to get carried away with the praise he’s been receiving, nor will he allow himself to be burdened by any expectation to keep scoring.

Instead, he says he’s focused on further acclimatising to English football while remaining determined to help the team in any way he can.

“Confidence is important, but now I have to fully adjust to the league,” he said. "It’s impossible to score in every game, but I try every game to score and try 100 per cent to play my best.

“My attacking team-mates and I always do our best to score and whether it works out or not, we always give our all. It’s very important that I can show my own performance levels and character on the pitch.”

Born in Chuncheon, the capital of Gangwon Province in South Korea, Sonny began playing football at an early age and in 2010 he followed in his father’s footsteps by stepping out at international level.

Following his hat-trick against Laos in a 2018 World Cup qualifier during the recent international break, he now has 45 caps and 14 goals for South Korea to his name, with one of those strikes coming against Nabil Bentaleb's Algeria at the 2014 World Cup finals in Brazil.

“I am a player who really loves football," he explained. "I learned the game under my father, who worked as a football coach in my school. I’ve loved the game since I was a child and formally started to play when I was 10 years old.

"I’ve always trained hard with the dream to one day play in Europe and the Premier League and now I’m here in the best league in the world."

Tonight we take another break from domestic duties and focus on the Capital One Cup, with a huge third round tie against Arsenal before us. With Sonny having hit the ground running at Spurs, what better way to test himself even further than to face his first North London derby?

Fully aware of the winner-takes-all situation, he says he's relishing the chance to experience a match that’s famous the world over!

"Arsenal is a big derby – I even heard about it in Germany," he said. "I’m happy to have the possibility to play in this game. We really want to win so we will try very hard and see how we do.”