{"id":5754,"date":"2026-06-30T11:05:19","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T11:05:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5754"},"modified":"2026-06-30T11:05:19","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T11:05:19","slug":"son-heung-min-indescribably-hurt-by-south-koreas-world-cup-exit-vows-to-win-the-hearts-of-fans","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5754","title":{"rendered":"Son Heung-min ‘indescribably hurt’ by South Korea’s World Cup exit, vows to ‘win the hearts’ of fans"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n\n
South Korea\u2019s Son Heung-min (7) reacts after the World Cup Group A soccer match between South Africa and South Korea in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. (AP Photo\/Matias Delacroix)<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

South Korea captain Son Heung-min has apologized for the team\u2019s group-stage exit at the World Cup<\/a> , saying he is \u201cindescribably hurt\u201d and eager to \u201cwin the hearts\u201d of the nation once again.<\/p>

Read more Serena Williams set to make much-anticipated singles return on Day 2 at Wimbledon<\/a><\/p>\n

In a long post<\/a> on Instagram on Monday night, Son \u2014 a soccer superstar in South Korea and a big name in Major League Soccer with Los Angeles FC \u2014 said he understood the disappointment of the team\u2019s fans after its performances in the tournament that have drawn harsh criticism<\/a> from the country\u2019s president and led to the resignation of coach Hong Myung-bo.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t dare to convey the disappointment and hurt of the fans with a single word \u2018sorry,\u2019\u201d Son wrote, \u201cso even saying those words feels insufficient.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe \u2018child\u2019s dream stage\u2019 that I always talked about has collapsed,\u201d he added. \u201cI\u2019m indescribably stuck and hurt. To be honest, it\u2019s still not easy to accept this reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

South Korea won its opening match against Czech Republic<\/a> , then lost its next two Group A matches \u2014 to Mexico<\/a> and South Africa<\/a> .<\/p>

Read more Democrats turn to unconventional organizing in an atypical \u2018must-win\u2019 Senate race<\/a><\/p>\n

The team failed to advance as one of the third-place group finishers.<\/p>\n

Son, who started on the bench for the group closer against South Africa, didn\u2019t score a goal at the World Cup and said he felt a personal responsibility that \u201cI couldn\u2019t repay the time, heart, and constant support and love\u201d that the fans gave.<\/p>\n

In a signal he wouldn\u2019t be retiring from international soccer, the 33-year-old Son said \u201cI will do my best in my position again to win the hearts of the Korean people and football fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

Son also called on the team\u2019s supporters to \u201csend warm support and encouragement rather than criticizing and hurting all the players.\u201d<\/p>

Read more As teens, they saw a U.S. World Cup dream fail. As men, they\u2019re reviving it.<\/a><\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

See more of AP\u2019s World Cup coverage here<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

South Korea captain Son Heung-min has apologized for the team\u2019s group-stage exit at the World Cup<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5752,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5754","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nSon Heung-min 'indescribably hurt' by South Korea's World Cup exit, vows to 'win the hearts' of fans - Moving Insider USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5754\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Son Heung-min 'indescribably hurt' by South Korea's World Cup exit, vows to 'win the hearts' of fans - Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South Korea captain Son Heung-min has apologized for the team\u2019s group-stage exit at the World Cup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/?p=5754\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Moving Insider USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-06-30T11:05:19+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/movinginsiderusa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/dc02b25f859a9e2f2761c83415437eb1-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1706\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"headline\":\"Son Heung-min ‘indescribably hurt’ by South Korea’s World Cup exit, vows to ‘win the hearts’ of fans\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T11:05:19+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754\"},\"wordCount\":396,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1092bbe06322fb6452fbdc74346e2b41-scaled.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754\",\"name\":\"Son Heung-min 'indescribably hurt' by South Korea's World Cup exit, vows to 'win the hearts' of fans - Moving Insider USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1092bbe06322fb6452fbdc74346e2b41-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-06-30T11:05:19+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/22d40ab81790f6a361021763bb56ef03\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/?p=5754#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1092bbe06322fb6452fbdc74346e2b41-scaled.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/movinginsiderusa.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/1092bbe06322fb6452fbdc74346e2b41-scaled.jpg\",\"width\":2560,\"height\":1706,\"caption\":\"South Korea's Son Heung-min (7) reacts after the World Cup Group A soccer match between South Africa and South Korea in Guadalupe, near Monterrey, Mexico, Wednesday, June 24, 2026. 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