As captain of the South Korean soccer staff and a ahead for English Premier League membership Tottenham Hotspur, Son Heung-min is aware of a factor or two about turning into a professional athlete.
In an interview with CNBC, Son shared his prime recommendations on going professional and dealing with the pressures that include it.
“Sleep well, eat well and do what you need, you know, like stay in the training ground when you need six hours, seven hours, eight hours,” he instructed CNBC’s Arabile Gumede in a video interview Friday.
Even if distractions are in every single place, the game ought to all the time be the precedence, Son believes.
“You have so many options, like, I don’t know, like video games, or like, that you always want to do more, you know, like, playing with friends,” he stated. “I think you should be always thinking the number one thing is football.”
Son left South Korea at age 16 to affix the German soccer membership Hamburger SV, with whom he made his first look in a prime European soccer league in 2010. After then spending a while enjoying for Germany’s Bayer Leverkusen, he switched to London-based Tottenham in 2015 for £22 million ($26.9 million).
Son additionally addressed a number of the largest classes he has discovered from his profession thus far.
“I think the lessons are, just don’t try to chase your happiness,” he instructed CNBC. Many individuals consistently seek for happiness, he says — when in actual fact it may possibly come from issues proper in entrance of you want your loved ones or job, Son believes.
Soccer star Son Heung-min shares prime ideas for making it as a professional athlete the most important classes he is learnt thus far.
Photo by James Williamson – Ama | Getty Images Sport | Getty Images
One of the important thing moments when this grew to become clear to him was simply earlier than the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, when he obtained injured and was unsure if he would have the ability to lead the South Korean soccer staff into the highest worldwide event. Son had a fracture round his left eye, which pressured him to play with a protecting face masks.
“I was there so I was playing with the mask,” he stated. “I think it’s just a lesson that I learnt because I think positive. […] Happiness is the most important thing.”
Another approach Son says he offers with the pressures of being a professional athlete is by falling again on his household and ensuring he talks to them about his psychological well being.
“I’m sad, they’re sad, we are happy and we’re all happy,” he says. “You can always share the feelings; you can always go with the family.”