# Son Heung-min, don't provoke Chinese fans

South Korea beat China 3-0 on November 21 last year in a Group C match of the second Asian qualifying round for the 2026 North-Central America World Cup in Shenzhen, China. Son Heung-min scored two goals including a penalty kick to lead the Korean team to victory.


Son Heung-min's conversation with Chinese striker Wu Lei drew much attention after scoring the first goal. Son put his finger on his mouth as a goal ceremony. It seemed to be a message to stop booing. Then, Wu Lei approached and argued in an angry tone, and when Hwang Hee-chan separated the two players, Marley continued to protest against the referee this time. Tanlung also spoke with Son right before the game resumed.

Wu Lei personally explained the situation at the time. In an interview with China's CCTV on March 30, Wu Lei said that Son's argument at the time was that as a world class player, he should not make mocking gestures right in front of our Chinese fans.

Son and South Koreans seem to have responded to the booing of Chinese fans who filled the home stands, but Wu Rai seems to have accepted that Son is provoking the home fans. After this conversation, Son Heung-min added a field goal to lead Korea to a great victory.

Wu Lei is one of the stars representing Chinese soccer. From 2019 to 2022, he played for Spain's Espanyol and was highly anticipated as China's last overseas striker. As Wu Lei, who scored one goal more than Son, showed good performance in his early days in Europe after dominating his country's league, Chinese media had high expectations that he would form a rivalry with Son.

However, he returned to the Shanghai-Hai River in China after his life in Spain did not turn out well. He scored 18 goals in 30 league games last year, proving himself to be the best striker in his country's league. In the match against Korea, he had no goal but scored five goals in 11 matches last year and four goals in six matches this year, recovering his scoring capacity. However, he failed to prevent his team from failing to score a goal at the Qatar Asian Cup.

Urey's team, Sangha Yi Gang, failed to pass the 2023-2024 Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) qualifying playoff. The upcoming 2024-2025 season went straight to the ALC elite finals.

BY: **[스포츠토토](https://www.sportstotohot.com)**