Son Heung-min of Bayer Leverkusen met with fans in Seoul on Wednesday. Over 300 fans gathered at the recently reopened COEX mall after almost two years of renovations to see Son, who played a football video game with an ardent fan.
"Having a good time with fans was a good way to de-stress," Son said.
Son scored 11 goals and had three assists in the first half of this season. He will likely beat his career- best of 12 goals in a single season and could even beat legendary Cha Bum-kun's record of most goals in a major European league by a Korean at 17.
Son was also honored as the best male player of the year at the annual football awards hosted by the Korea Football Association on the same day.
"I was able to score many meaningful goals this year thanks to all the support from fans," he said.
Son was the youngest member of the national team in the 2011 AFC Asian Cup in Qatar. He will still be the youngest player on the team for the upcoming 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia, which will be held next month.
"There is no pressure of being the youngest and I feel proud to represent Korea, so I will do my utmost to bring home the champions' trophy."
Asked about Korean team manager Uli Stielike's recent statement that Son might play as a lone striker, he said "I'm ready to do my best in whatever position I'm given. But there are other players who are better in that position, so to be honest I would feel more comfortable as a winger."
