It's more than just an award.
via Korea JoongAng Daily
South Korea has grown massively in media and pop culture in the past decade with the consistent output of K-dramas and K-pop groups like BTS and Blackpink. Along with these aspects of Korean pop culture, however, South Korea has also garnered massive attention after producing one of the greatest soccer players in the current league: Son Heung-min. Living in Korea, it’s almost impossible not to hear of that name with thousands, and possibly millions, of fans placing him on a pedestal as their role model. Son can be seen everywhere, ranging from TV commercials to wrappers on water bottles, and he has become a household name for South Koreans.
Most recently, Son Heung-min had his most successful season in his career after scoring 23 goals and 7 assists. This allowed Son to win the Golden Boot, being the first Asian soccer player in history to win such a prestigious award. The Golden Boot is given at the end of every Premier League season to the player who scored the most goals, and Son shared this award with Liverpool player Mohamed Salah. Son even managed to win this award without scoring any penalties, meaning all of his 23 goals came from open plays where he had to position himself in a goal-scoring position. Of course, Son did not only excel in the 2021-22 season. Son won the Puskas award two years ago after scoring one of the greatest goals in history, and Son also managed to put up double digits for both goals and assists during the 2020-21 season. I the light of these statistics, many consider Son to be the most responsible for ensuring his team a Champions League spot for the 2022-23 season. With these impressive accolades and statistics, there was no doubt in millions of fans’ minds, mine included, that Son would finally get recognized for his achievements. However, the announcement of the PFA awards left fans all over the world shocked.
The Professional Footballers’ Association gives out three awards at the end of every season. The first award has the fans nominate six players and award one to win the PFA Fans’ Player of the Year. Unfortunately, Son was not nominated for this award, but I had hope that he would be recognized for the second award. The second had players instead of fans nominate who they believed was the best player of the season and deserved the PFA Players’ Player of the Year. Again, Son was not nominated for this award, but I had no doubt in my mind that Son would be mentioned as a part of the PFA Team of the Year composed of 11 of the best players in their respective positions. After all, Son was one of the best wingers and attackers in the entirety of Europe. To my astonishment, Son’s name was nowhere to be seen. Out of these three PFA awards, Son Heung-min was nominated for zero of them. While it is understandable that Son did not win either of the Player of the Year awards as Mohamed Salah did score an equal 23 goals and had the most assists in the league, I at least expected a nomination for Son. Some fans even argue that Son had a stronger and more consistent season than Salah, as Salah dipped in form near the end of the season. However, Son was not even mentioned to be a possible candidate to win. Furthermore, he was omitted from the 11 players who earned a spot in the Team of the Year, despite managing to put up goal-scoring numbers like a striker while also consistently assisting his teammates as a winger.
The lack of recognition for Son begs the question of why he fails to receive the attention he undoubtedly deserves. Could it be because of the team he plays for? Or rather, possibly his attitude on the field? Unfortunately, fans have begun pointing fingers at race playing a card in this, and I personally can’t help but see some truth in this. There is no doubt that Asian soccer players are underrepresented with European players often being in the spotlight and center of the news. To add, for most of his career, Son has had to endure racist attacks directed toward him on numerous occasions. Although most soccer fans have finally acknowledged him as one of the greatest wingers at the moment after his legendary 2021-22 season, racism does not simply disappear with the emergence of recognition. In fact, I would argue that his rise in popularity has only brought more negative attention to him.
It is unfortunate that Son’s name has failed to even be mentioned once for these awards. For me and many others, Son being recognized for these awards is more than him just receiving a trophy with his name inscribed on it. Recognition for Son would mean that Asian athletes could finally show the world that they are as capable and skilled. Recognition for Son would mean that stereotypes against Asian people could finally be left in the past. Recognition for Son would ensure the respect he deserved for the entirety of his career. For all aspiring athletes in South Korea and the rest of Asia, Son’s recognition through these awards would bring hope to them and assure them that they can make it as Son did in his career. Unfortunately, the PFA failed to do this during the past season. Hopefully, we can see more happening in the following years as Son continues to produce incredible numbers to prove his excellence in the sport.