South Korea will welcome back Son Heung-min into their starting lineup for their Asian Cup quarter-final against Uzbekistan on Thursday but coach Uli Stielike is unsure how long his talented forward will last.
The Bayer Leverkusen forward has been laid low by a fever which has ravaged the South Korean squad but returned as a 50th minute substitute in the 1-0 win over hosts Australia on Saturday which ensured top spot in Group A. The victory was a third consecutive 1-0 success but the Koreans have been far from convincing and Stielike was optimistic that the 22-year-old, who started the opening win over Oman, would make the difference at the Rectangular Stadium.
"We have in our mind that Son Heung-min will start tomorrow," the German told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday.
Asian Cup 2014: South Korea pull of big upset; beat hosts Australia 1-0 to reach quarter-finals
"But also he was very sick over the last 10 days so now step-by-step he is recovering, but even if he starts tomorrow, we are not sure if he can stay for the 90 minutes on the pitch. If you look at the statistics from the Australia game, we missed a lot of passes and missed a lot of chances, so by introducing Son Heung-min we hope we can be more dangerous," added Stielike.
While undoubtedly talented, Son, who normally plays just off the main striker, has failed to find the target in his last 10 matches for his country. An 11th scoreless match would not bother him providing Korea advance to a semi-final against Iraq or Iran and continue their bid for a first Asian Cup title since 1960.
"I didn't come to the Asian Cup to fulfil my personal goals," Son was quoted as saying by Yonhap News.
"It'd be nice to score a lot of goals, but winning is more important. We only managed three goals in group stage but won every match. Scoring would be nice, but our first and foremost goal is to win the tournament," signed off Son.
