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Son's boost for South Korea

Tottenham forward's arrival expected to help a side struggling to score

The arrival of Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung Min for South Korea's Asian Cup campaign will not change their approach to a tournament in which they have reached the last 16, coach Paulo Bento has said.

The Koreans laboured to a 1-0 win over debutants Kyrgyzstan on Friday, having beaten the Philippines by the same scoreline in their opening match at the continental championship.

GROUP C
SOUTH KOREA CHINA

They failed to turn their domination into goals, but are hoping that will change with Son's arrival in the United Arab Emirates.

The 26-year-old joined up with the squad yesterday, hours after Spurs' English Premier League game against Manchester United at Wembley.

Bento, the former Portugal coach, expects his team's overall game to improve.

"We are not going to change our way of playing when we have Son Heung Min with us," said Bento.

QUALITY

"What we are going to do is improve our collective game, try to attack better than we have played until now.

"Of course, a player with the quality that Son has and, in the (form) that he has at this moment, can help the team.

"But we need to wait until the game against China or the knockout phase."

Bento is yet to decide whether the forward will feature in a game that will decide who takes first place in the group.

Bento was referring to their final Group C match, with both teams setting the pace on six points. The Koreans need to win to top the group, as China have the better goal difference.

"We will talk and then we are going to take the best decisions for the team," he said.

"He has played a lot of games during the last months."

- REUTERS

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