Hey, did you know we have an international break coming up after this weekends’ third round of Premier League fixtures? I know, I know. I hate it too. But depending on your perspective, there’s already one positive emerging out of the upcoming week of meaningless Nations League matches and international friendlies: Tottenham Hotspur’s 18-year old signing Yang Min-hyeok has been called up to South Korea for the first time, alongside his captain, Son Heung-Min.
, 하나되어 빛나는 순간!✨
2026 FIFA 월드컵 아시아 3차 예선 팔레스타인-오만전에 참가하는 축구국가대표팀의 명단을 공개합니다!v #팔레스타인 09.05(목) 20:00 서울월드컵경기장
v #오만 09.10(화) 23:00 술탄 카부스 경기장 pic.twitter.com/53wRKSQrRe— theKFA (@theKFA) August 26, 2024
Sonny being called up to play for Korea is like death and taxes — he’s Korea’s captain so you know he’s going to not only get the call, but also play significant minutes in both of Korea’s upcoming World Cup qualifying matches against Palestine and Oman. But Yang’s the real exciting thing here — it’s his first ever call to play for Korea at the senior level after debuting at the U17 level. Hopefully he actually plays, because at this stage in his career the more minutes he gets potentially the better he’ll be. Yang should prove to everyone that sometimes, yes sometimes, there are exceptions to my tried and true position that it’s better when Tottenham’s players are not called up to play for their national teams during off-cycle years.
Yang currently has 3G+2A in five matches for Gangwon FC; he doesn’t formally join Spurs until January, at the conclusion of the K-League season. Korea plays World Cup qualifiers against Palestine on Thurs. September 5, and at Oman on Tues. September 10.
