Perfect start for Sonny and Korea at the Asian Cup

Heung-Min Son skippered South Korea to the perfect start at the 2023 Asian Cup as his nation claimed a 3-1 win over Bahrain in their Group E opener.

Kicking off their campaign in Qatar against the middle eastern nation, Sonny started, captained his nation once again and played the full 90 minutes as they took maximum points at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.

Hwang In-beom of Crvena zvzeda opened Korea's account at the tournament, curling home from lose range on 38 minutes, but their lead was cancelled out six minutes after the restart as Abdullah Al Hashash capitalised when Sonny's side failed to clear their lines.

Yet, within five minutes of that leveller, Korea were back in front thanks to a scorching effort from Paris Saint-Germain forward Lee Kang-in. He later doubled his tally and secured the three points for Jurgen Klinsmann's men on 68 minutes, curling in with another fine finish.

That was Sonny's 117th cap for his country and means he has now appeared at four Asian Cups - the record is held by Uzbekistan's Ignatiy Nesterov (5).

Next up for our number seven and the Korea Republic is a clash with Jordan on Saturday (20 January) - 11.30am UK kick-off.