Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou has clarified the situation surrounding Son Heung-min, admitting the club captain is a major doubt for Thursday’s Europa League semi-final first leg.
Son has missed recent games against Wolves, Eintracht Frankfurt, Nottingham Forest and Liverpool due to a foot injury. Spurs lost all three domestic games without him, but were victorious in Europe to progress from the quarter-finals.
Postecoglou’s side will host Norwegian history-makers Bodo/Glimt – the first club from the Scandinavian nation to reach the semi-finals of a UEFA competition – in north London this week.
But the boss has described Son’s potential involvement as “touch and go” in comments to the BBC.
It isn’t a long-term issue for the South Korean national sporting hero, so there is every chance that, if Son isn’t available this Thursday, he will be next Thursday when Spurs head into the Arctic Circle: “He’ll try hard. If [he’s not ready] for the first game we think he’ll be ready for the second game.”
Given the extreme weather so far north, the Aspmyra Stadion has an artificial playing surface that will represent a different kind of challenge for Spurs.
Bodo/Glimt have surpassed all expectations this season, finishing ninth in the league phase and only narrowly missing out on an automatic place in the last 16. In the knockout rounds, they have seen off Twente, Conference League holders Olympiacos and, most recently, Lazio.
For Spurs, the Europa League still represents a chance to make a very poor season better as they hunt for both a first major trophy in 17 years and a route into the 2025/26 Champions League.
A 32-year-old Son has fallen from his peak of a few seasons ago, but the veteran club legend has still contributed 11 goals and 12 assists across all competitions so far.
