Son Heung-min has been included in South Korea’s 26-man squad for the World Cup finals in Qatar despite suffering a fractured eye socket playing for Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League earlier this month.
Head coach Paulo Bento included Son in his squad after the 30-year-old declared himself fit to feature for the Koreans, who will be making their 10th consecutive appearance at the World Cup finals. “We are in contact with him, with the Tottenham medical department, but about the exact time, the exact day he can train with the team we don’t have that information yet,” Bento told reporters after unveiling his squad.
“So we need to wait, we need to analyse day-by-day his situation. We have time to decide and the most important is he recovers as well as possible, he feels comfortable and then we will take the final decision.”
Son, who underwent an operation to repair the injury, has said he would wear a protective mask to play in Qatar if required.
Son, who has scored 35 goals in 106 international appearances, wrote on social media this week that “I can’t wait to represent our beautiful country, see you soon”.
Bento said his selection of Mallorca playmaker Lee Kang-in was not intended as cover for Son should last season’s joint-leading scorer in the Premier League be unable to play.
South Korea will travel to the World Cup looking to qualify for the knockout rounds for the first time since 2010, when they were eliminated in the Round of 16 by Uruguay.
“Even competing with a high-level performance from our side we are going to feel many difficulties because on the other side are very good and strong teams,” said Bento. The Koreans open their Group H campaign against Uruguay on Nov.
24 before facing Ghana on Nov. 28 and Portugal on Dec. 2. A South Korean team missing Son and other Europe-based players beat Iceland 1-0 in a home friendly on Friday.

Squad
Goalkeepers: Kim Seung-gyu (Al Shabab/KSA), Song Bum-keun (Jeonbuk Motors), Jo Hyeon-woo (Ulsan)
Defenders: Kwon Kyung-won (Gamba Osaka/JPN), Kim Moon-hwan (Jeonbuk Motors), Kim Min-jae (Napoli/ITA) Kim Young-gwon (Ulsan), Kim Jin-su (Jeonbuk Motors), Kim Tae-hwan (Ulsan), Yoon Jong-gyu (FC Seoul), Cho Yu-min (Daejeon Hana Citizen), Hong Chul (Daegu FC)
Midfielders: Kwon Chang-hoon (Gimcheon Sangmu), Na Sang-ho (FC Seoul), Paik Seung-ho (Jeonbuk Motors), Lee Kang-in (Real Mallorca/ESP), Lee Jae-sung (Mainz/GER), Jeong Woo-yeong (Freiburg/GER), Hwang In-beom (Olympiakos/GRE), Hwang Hee-chan (Wolverhampton Wanderers/ENG), Song Min-kyu (Jeonbuk Motors), Son Jun-ho (Shandong Taishan/CHN), Na Sang-ho (FC Seoul)
Forwards: Son Heung-min (Tottenham Hotspur/ENG), Cho Gue-sung (Jeonbuk Motors), Hwang Ui-jo (Olympiakos/GRE)