Old Photos of Son Heung-min’s Post-match Tears Resurface Online
The Claim
Two photos show South Korean footballer Son Heung-min sobbing after losing a 2022 World Cup match.
News posted on
Emerging story
Following South Korea's defeat to Brazil, social media users shared two photos purportedly showing South Korean player Son Heung-min crying.
Misbar’s Analysis
Misbar investigated the circulating photos and found the claim to be misleading.
A thorough reverse image search revealed that the photos circulating are outdated and unrelated to the 2022 World Cup.
Son Heung-Min Cries After Losing Carabao Cup
The first photo was published in a Daily Star article on April 25, 2021, after Tottenham Hotspur's 1-0 Carabao Cup final loss to Manchester City.
Son, who showed the most emotion after the game, was Tottenham's saddest player.
The South Korean star was captured on camera hunched over sobbing on the Wembley Field.
Son Heung-min Cries Over 2014 World Cup Match Loss
The second image was first shared on Twitter by the account @hankookilbo.
On June 23, 2018, the account posted a photo of Son and South Korea's president in the locker room after a World Cup match against Mexico.
Tottenham's Son Heung-min sobbed in front of South Korea's president after Mexico defeated South Korea 2-1 in their World Cup match.
In a post-match interview, Son said, "I really didn't want to cry, but after I saw my teammates and the President in the locker room, I couldn't stop crying."
Son Heung-min Cries After Round 16 Qualifying
Son Heung-min said he shed "tears of happiness" after South Korea defeated Portugal 2-1 and advanced to the round of 16 at the World Cup on Friday.
Son was finally able to cry tears of joy after sobbing tears of sadness at the previous two World Cups due to South Korea being eliminated in the group stage in 2014 and 2018.
"I believe these tears are tears of happiness," he said, adding: "We waited really long for this moment and we as players believed altogether we could do this."
Brazil Eliminates South Korea From the Competition
Brazil beat South Korea 4-1 in a World Cup round-of-16 match on December 5.
Brazil's win over South Korea earned them a spot in the Qatar 2022 World Cup quarterfinals against Croatia and sent a message to their rivals.
Brazil scored with Vinicius Junior, Neymar, Richarlison, and Lucas Paqueta.
South Korea's only goal came from Paik Seung-ho.
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