Asian Cup 2015: Socceroo Robbie Kruse on friendship with ‘rock star’ teammate Son Heung-min

Socceroo Robbie Kruse is used to sharing a changeroom with a pin-up — but he has never been teammates with a ‘rock star’ like Son Heung-min.

FROM Archie Thompson at Melbourne Victory to Socceroos teammate Tim Cahill, Robbie Kruse is used to sharing a changeroom with a pin-up boy.

But the German-based Socceroos attacker has never been teammates with a ‘rock star’.

“Son Heung-Min is one of my close friends at Bayer Leverkusen and he’s probably the biggest superstar now of Asian football,’’ Kruse told the Herald Sun.

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Club teammates, now Asian Cup opponents — Son Heung-min and Robbie Kruse.

“We went to Korea on a pre-season tour with Leverkusen and it blew the players’ minds how big he was.

“We went to a shopping centre and there were about 30,000 people, all just waiting for him.

“It’s a totally different way of life for him and it’s also quite difficult for him because we don’t experience that here in Australia.

“For him to go to Korea and walk is quite difficult.

“Considering his profile, he’s a great guy.’’

On Saturday night South Korea’s Son, who’s scored seven in 35 national team appearances, looms as the biggest thing standing between the Socceroos and top spot in Group A at Suncorp Stadium.

Bayer Leverkusen’s $14.12m buy from Hamburg in 2013 is proving to be an inspired bit of business, as he’s now the club’s chief attacking weapon (10 goals this season in all competitions) and most valuable asset.

Son headlines a batch of players being watched by Liverpool scouts in Australia at the Asian Cup, and Bayer — whose major sponsor is Korean company LG — won’t release him for anything less than $30m.

Son Heung Min is the hottest property in Asian football.

“He’s being courted by a lot of big teams in Europe, he’s young and he’s already got five Champions League goals this season,’’ Kruse said.

“It will be a great occasion for both of us and our club to be able to play against each other at the Asian Cup.

“He’s a massive part of Leverkusen and someone we’ll have to watch out for.’’

Son looks set to return to the side after missing the narrow win over Kuwait with a fever.

The swagger’s returned to Robbie Kruse’s step after his goal against Oman, and it’s just as well because his close pal and counterpart has it in spades, setting up for an enthralling individual battle.

“He’s a confident boy so he’ll be confident he’ll score a few goals against us, that’s the way he is,’’ he said.

“I’m sure we’ll have to be on our toes to stop him.’’

Son’s illness scuppered the pair’s plans to catch up for a pre-game coffee in Brisbane yesterday, with Kruse opting not to take any risks.

Despite the pair effectively fighting for the same position and Kruse struggling to break into the first XI this season, the pair remain tight. And multilingual.

Kruse won’t hold back when he goes up against his friend in Brisbane.

“We speak a few words in Korean, majority is German (laughs). Nah joking, majority English, my German’s not too good. He speaks really good English,’’ Kruse said.

“We were hoping to catch up before the game, but we’ll exchange shirts after the game.

“We try and catch up as much as we can. It’s difficult playing every three games, with Champions League and what not, but we’re pretty close now.

“He’s a good friend, but when we get on that field it won’t be the same.’’

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Socceroo Robbie Kruse on friendship with ‘rock star’ teammate Son Heung-min