Asian Cup 2015: Son Heung-min to get call as South Korea look for attacking boost

SOUTH Korea coach Uli Stielike says the inclusion of Son Heung-min for Thursday night’s quarter-final against Uzbekistan will give his side added impetus in attack.

Eid Al-Farsi of Oman (L) fights for the ball with Son Heung Min of South Korea during the first round Asian Cup football match between South Korea and Oman in Canberra on January 10, 2015. AFP PHOTO / MARK GRAHAM --- IMAGE RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - STRICTLY NO COMMERICAL USE --

SOUTH Korea coach Uli Stielike says the inclusion of Bayer Leverkusen star Son Heung-min for Thursday night’s quarter-final against Uzbekistan at AAMI Park will give his side added impetus in attack.

Despite defeating Australia 1-0 on Saturday, the Taeguk Warriors had just 32.8 per cent of possession and had only nine shots compared to the Socceroos’ 14.

Heung-min came off the bench after 49 minutes against Ange Postecoglou’s men after missing the game against Kuwait with illness, but Stielike confirmed the 22-year-old would start in front of another huge crowd in Melbourne.

“He was very sick in the past 10 days, so now step by step he is recovering,” said Stielike.

“We cannot be sure that he stays 90 minutes on the pitch, but when you see our statistics in the last game against Australia in the offensive side you see that we missed a lot of passes and don’t create a lot of chances.

“So we hope with the entrance of Son Hueng-min that we can be a little bit more dangerous in our offensive work.”

Stielike said he felt as if his side still had plenty more left to achieve.

“In our thinking, we are only halfway and we don’t want to stop at halfway,” he said.

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Son Heung-min to get call as South Korea look for attacking boost