(Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur captain Son Heung-min said returning to his home country South Korea for the World Cup qualifiers against Oman and Jordan has brought him immense joy after a challenging period with the Premier League club.
South Korea could secure one of the two automatic tickets to the 2026 finals from Group B with two qualifiers to spare if they beat Oman in Goyang later today and Jordan in Suwon five days later.
However, back in England, Son's side have suffered a poor run of form, denting their European hopes. Last weekend's 2-0 loss to Fulham left Tottenham 14th with 34 points from 29 games.
"Even though I have been going through challenging times at Tottenham Hotspur, coming back to South Korea and seeing our fans brings me immense joy and energy," Son told local media on Wednesday.
"I am thankful that (on Thursday) even more fans will cheer for us. Our fans always root hard for us and we don't want to let them down since this will be our first match of the year, we will do our best to ensure an exciting game."
Spurs are 15 points behind fourth-placed Chelsea, who they visit on April 3. Having been knocked out of the FA Cup, Ange Postecoglou's team pin their only trophy hope on the Europa League, where they face in-form Eintracht Frankfurt on April 10.
(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bengaluru; Editing by Michael Perry)
