Tottenham’s star player, Son Heung-min, has secured the Best Footballer in Asia award for 2023, surpassing Cristiano Ronaldo of Al-Nassr. This marks the seventh consecutive year that Son has claimed this honour.
The 31-year-old received 22.9% of the vote, narrowly beating his South Korean compatriot Kim Min-Jae from Bayern Munich (19.54%) and Al-Nassr’s Ronaldo (17.06%).
Notably, this is the ninth time in Son’s career that he has been awarded this prestigious prize.
Son, who currently serves as the captain for Tottenham, is a revered figure in South Korea and among the fans of his club. While winning this award is undoubtedly significant for him, the forward is eager to secure silverware either with Tottenham or the South Korean national team in 2024.
Despite not clinching the Best Footballer in Asia award, Ronaldo had an impressive 2023, emerging as the top goal scorer with 53 goals.
The 38-year-old Portuguese international continues to demonstrate his goal-scoring prowess in the latter stages of his career.
Son recently featured for South Korea in their 3-1 victory over Bahrain in the Asian Cup opener. His upcoming matches include a fixture against Jordan on Saturday and the final group stage clash against Malaysia on January 25.
However, if South Korea succeeds in winning the tournament, Son could potentially be absent from Tottenham until mid-February.