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Son Heung-min injured finger in South Korea fight at Asian Cup, as ping pong diplomacy fails

  • Row between South Korea players at the Asian Cup left Son nursing a dislocated digit, Korea Football Association official says
  • Son said to have complained when teammates ate dinner quickly so they could scoot off to play table tennis on the eve of their shock semi-final exit

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Son Heung-min was said to have been unhappy at his teammates’ approach to squad meals. Photo: AP

The team that eats together, stays together, or so the adage suggests.

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Ping pong diplomacy, meanwhile, passed into legend as having helped to end the Cold War.

But try telling that to South Korean footballer Son Heung-min, who reportedly dislocated a finger in an altercation with teammates about table tennis and dining etiquette during the recent AFC Asian Cup.

Son was seen with his fingers taped when he returned to club action with Tottenham Hotspur in the English Premier League at the weekend.

That, it has been revealed, is because the 31-year-old dislocated one of them during a dinnertime incident on the eve of his country’s shock semi-final defeat by Jordan at the continental finals in Qatar.
Son (left) trains with a smile, but was reportedly less happy with Korean colleagues’ dining etiquette. Photo: Reuters
Son (left) trains with a smile, but was reportedly less happy with Korean colleagues’ dining etiquette. Photo: Reuters

Younger members of the South Korea squad ate their supper quickly so that they could crack on with a game of table tennis, a Korea Football Association official told Yonhap news agency. The players included Lee Kang-in of Paris Saint-Germain.

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