Son Heung-min to Mitoma: Five players to watch at Asian Cup
What more can be said about the South Korea and Tottenham Hotspur captain? The 31-year-old is one of the best attackers in the Premier League and has consistently been the best player in Asia for the last five years. He had an underwhelming season last year with a poor Tottenham side but like the team as a whole has been reinvigorated under new Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou, who made him captain.
Son also seems to enjoy playing under legendary German striker Jurgen Klinsmann for his country, scoring twice and setting up the other in an impressive 3-0 win in China in World Cup qualifying in November. He will hope to return to Qatar and make up for a difficult World Cup in 2022 by his standards - he failed to score in four appearances and was clearly affected by having to wear a mask for a fractured eye socket.
The winger was a virtual unknown to casual football fans until delivering a series of scintillating performances last season for Brighton in the Premier League. A relatively late arrival to elite football, the 26-year-old former university student joined Brighton in 2021 from Kawasaki Frontale but then went out on loan to Union Saint-Gilloise in Belgium.
Mitoma returned to Brighton in the summer of 2022 and found his feet in English football, since scoring 13 times and recording 14 assists in 65 appearances for his club. He made his debut for Japan just over two years ago and has made 18 appearances, scoring seven times, but goes into the Asian Cup with an ankle injury.
Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu said in naming his squad that Mitoma should be ready "early in the tournament", but he looks set to miss at least one game.
Known as "Monster" because of his imposing physique, the Bayern Munich man is one of the best
Read on besoccer.com
