Son Heung-min (33, Tottenham) did not receive a championship medal at the greatest moment of his life.
Tottenham won the 2024-2025 UEFA Europa League final against Manchester United 1-0 at Estadio San Mamés in Bilbao, Spain, on the 22nd (Korea time).
Tottenham lifted a trophy for the first time in a staggering 17 years since winning the League Cup in 2008. Son Heung-min, who joined Tottenham in 2015, finally broke the curse of not winning a title after 10 years. This is his first professional victory, including Hamburg and Bayer Leverkusen.
As the victory was confirmed, Son Heung-min draped himself in the Korean flag and celebrated. Being the captain, Son Heung-min was the first to lift the trophy while celebrating with his Tottenham teammates. This was the most splendid moment in Son Heung-min's football career.
After the match, Son Heung-min said, "I feel really great right now. Tottenham hasn't lifted a trophy for 17 years. It took a long time, and today is that day. I think I can now refer to myself as a legend of this club. Just today! I want to enjoy this moment," as he showed tears.
However, there was a hiccup. When captain Son Heung-min was about to receive the championship trophy, he did not have a championship medal around his neck. Manager Ange Postecoglou, and even substitute players, received medals, but the captain did not.
In addition to Son Heung-min, Rodrigo Bentancur and Cristian Romero also celebrated victory without receiving medals. It turned out that UEFA made a mistake by preparing only 50 medals.
After the incident grew larger, UEFA explained, "More players than expected attended the awards ceremony, and some players did not receive medals. We deeply regret this. We distributed the missing medals in the locker room."
They continued, "Injured players at Tottenham received medals, leading to more players receiving medals than expected. We apologize for the oversight," shifting blame for the incident to the winning team, stating that injured players who did not participate in the match received medals, causing a shortage for Son Heung-min.
It is clear that there were already plenty of medals available on site when Son Heung-min received one in the locker room. Ultimately, UEFA's negligence ruined the most significant day in Son Heung-min's life.
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