Tottenham Hotspur striker Son Heung-min was not included in South Korea’s 18-man Olympic football squad named on Wednesday, avoiding a potential club-versus-country dilemma.
Son’s new English Premier League campaign with Tottenham is due to begin on Sunday August 15 against champions Manchester City, just a week after the Olympic final in Tokyo.
Hwang Ui-jo of FC Girondins de Bordeaux was named in the under-24 squad as an over-age player, while Valencia midfielder Lee Kang-in, the youngest member of the squad at 20, can avoid military service by winning an Olympic medal.
South Korea requires all able-bodied men to serve for 18 months. But Olympic medalists or gold medalists …
Keep on reading: Spurs star Son Heung-min left out of Korea Olympic football squad