Son Heung-min defying stereotypes and prejudice as Spurs’ leading man in absence of Harry Kane Tottenham forward has become one of the England’s finest players and continues to expose the smallness of character of those who attack him

For a depressing number of football fans, Son Heung-min seems to be an acceptable target of prejudice. Singled out by racist chanting when Tottenham faced Millwall in the FA Cup in 2017; harassed by a West Ham fan and asked “You do DVDs?” after winding down his car window to pose for photographs not long afterwards; the subject of an unbelievably cowardly video featuring two men in Spurs colours covertly filming an Asian supporter at Wembley, in which they supplied a running commentary of ugly stereotypes and referred to him by Son’s name with mock confusion.

Tottenham are still investigating an incident from back in January when, according to one supporter, another Spurs fan racially abused Son from the stands in a manner that he described as “hideous”. He reported the incident, but not before he was called a “c*nt” in front of his child. While we’d all like to think that racial abuse at football matches is relatively rare – the litany of racist incidents this season suggests otherwise – there are few players who are repeatedly targeted by their own supporters. Son seems to inspire a particular sort of bigot, one who thinks he can get away with racism in plain sight.

South Korean by nationality, those abusing Son only see east Asian. In film and media, actors, writers and directors from east Asia have long said their heritage and identity is somehow seen as fair game, as evidenced by the persistence of ‘yellowface’ and other racist tropes. There seems to be a sense that racism against east Asian people is not taken quite as seriously as it is when directed elsewhere. In 2017, research by the Economic and Social Research Council showed that Chinese people were among the ethnic groups who suffer the most ethnic and racial harassment in the UK, with around 15 per cent reporting that they had experienced physical and verbal attacks based on their ethnicity the previous year.

For those dishing out abuse to Son, the difference between South Korea, China and indeed anywhere else in that broad region of the world is no doubt seen as a nicety too far. There are also the subtler forms of stereotyping which are levelled at almost every east Asian footballer: that they are hard working but not physical enough, intelligent but lacking the ‘fight’ required to thrive in English football or, worse, only here for commercial reasons, to sell shirts and open up new markets so that cash and capital can flow westwards and into the European game.

Son’s defiance

Along with all the other pressures of Premier League football, the psychological burden of repeated racist abuse cannot be underestimated. Raheem Sterling has alluded to it and, while Son is not subjected to structural racism in the media in the same way that Sterling is, the two of them doubtless have some shared experience when it comes to being singled out for special attention by bigots.

While Sterling spoke out about the racism he has experienced in the press in the aftermath of the abuse he received at Stamford Bridge back in December, Son seems to have opted for quiet defiance. Having scored against West Ham early last year, after the incident of harassment as he posed for photos, he ran towards the away supporters at Wembley with a single finger raised to his lips. Asked why he had shushed the West Ham support, he said: “It was nothing special, I don’t want to talk about it. I think they knew why I did it and that’s it.” The inference was clear and, while Son may not have wanted to go into it after the match, he had communicated his anger by other means.

Likewise, much like Sterling, Son has not allowed the abuse to affect his performances. In sharp defiance of the stereotype of the east Asian footballer as somehow extraneous, low-impact and peripheral, he has made a profound impression at Tottenham since he joined from Bayer Leverkusen in 2015. After a relatively slow introductory season to the Premier League, in which he scored four goals in 28 appearances, Son has now scored 62 times in all competitions for Spurs at a rate of just over a goal every couple of games. That makes him Spurs’ second highest scorer in that time behind only Harry Kane.

Since last month, when Kane sustained the ankle injury which looks set to keep him out until at least late February, Son has been the driving force behind Tottenham’s outsider title challenge (how they are still only five points off top spot with both Kane and Dele Alli on the sidelines, nobody really knows). He has three goals in his last three matches, including the late sucker punch which finished off Leicester on Sunday. When Spurs face Borussia Dortmund in the last 16 of the Champions League on Wednesday evening, Son – who scored twice against them in the group stages last season – will be the man who Dortmund fear most.

He has turned himself into one of the Premier League’s sharpest finishers, while his slickness in the penalty box – not always strictly in the spirit of good sportsmanship, mind – makes him a teeth-clenching stress trigger of an opponent.

Never lost focus

When those who have abused him are forced to watch on as he and Spurs continue to achieve highly, Son can feel vindicated by his refusal to be intimidated or browbeaten. When the slurs come from his own supporters, as they have on at least two occasions this season, it must be far harder to rationalise, though as someone who has suffered such persistent abuse Son may not have the luxury of believing that racism and bigotry – those twin ulcers on our body politic – can be remedied by as mild a curative as allegiance to a football team.

Despite all that Son has not allowed himself to lose his focus and motivation, which is testament to his strength of character as a person as well as a footballer. By contrast, he continues to expose the smallness of character of the people who attack and harass him. It might seem naive in these grim times to think that football is somehow an antidote for racism, but Son and others like him continue to make a mockery of the insults and stereotypes aimed at them. Sometimes raising a finger to the lips is as effective a response as any.