Son Heung-min scored a hat trick for Leverkusen against his former team Hamburg during their Bundesliga match at the BayArena on Saturday, leading the team's 5-3 victory. Son also recorded one assist.
In doing so, he became the first Korean player to score three goals in a single match in one of the world's top football leagues. His world-class performance set headlines ablaze among local media.
The player scored his first goal in just nine minutes. He received a pass from the left wing, raced past one defender into the box and used his left foot to rifle the ball into the opposite corner of the goal. It was his second goal of the season after he first got on the score sheet during the season opener against Freiburg on Aug. 11.
His second goal of the game further flashed his individual brilliance as he took on two defenders and beat the keeper to send another ball crashing into the back of the net with his left foot.
With the game tied at two, Son completed his hat trick in the 55th by pouncing on a deflected ball, running into the penalty area and scoring with his right foot. He set up teammate Stefan Kießling in the 72nd after skillfully intercepting a pass.
Cha Bum-kun, a former manager of the Korean national team that Son has often cited as his role model, scored 98 goals in the Bundesliga during his 11 seasons there. However, Cha never managed three goals in one game. After debuting with Darmstadt in 1978, he played with Frankfurt and Leverkusen, scoring two goals 20 times.
Seol Ki-hyeon, who plays for Incheon United in Korea's K-League, recorded a hat trick in the Super Cup while playing for Anderlecht in Belgium in 2001, but this did not classify as a league match.
Son, who is now in his fourth season in the Bundesliga, has scored a total of 26 goals in Germany, including one in the German Cup.
He will return to Korea on Monday to join the national team as it prepares for friendly matches against Switzerland on Friday and Russia on Nov. 19.
