Son Heung-min, Ji So-yun named South Korea’s top footballers

South Korea’s Son Heung-min and Ji So-yun remain the country’s best male and female footballers, the Korea Football Association (KFA) announced on Friday.

Son, who captains the national team and plays as a forward for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, won Male Player of the Year after amassing 182 points in a voting round by officials and journalists.

This is his fourth consecutive win out of a total of seven wins, as per The Korea JoongAng Daily.

Son made history this year after becoming the first Asian footballer to win the Premier League’s Golden Boot award in May and becoming the highest-ranked Asian player in men’s Ballon d’Or history in October.

After sustaining an orbital fracture in November, he returned to play at the Qatar World Cup wearing a carbon-fiber mask.

Son was also recently nominated for this year’s Men’s World Best Player by the International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS). He was recognized alongside Paulo Bento, the South Korean men’s team’s former head coach who led them to round 16 at the recent World Cup — the first time in 12 years — according to The Korea Times.

Ji, who plays as a midfielder for the national team and for WK League club Suwon FC, was named Female Player of the Year for the seventh time as well.

She remains the all-time top goal scorer in both men’s and women’s football in the country.

After multiple Super League titles and accolades, the former Chelsea Women’s player returned home in May to help Suwon FC prepare for the 2023 Women’s World Cup. South Korea will be hosting the games next summer.

“It’s an honor to start my WK League career with Suwon FC Women,” Ji said in a statement. “I will try to go back to the basics and become the player that can help the club win.”

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