Son Heung-min & LAFC: Predictions from The Guardian

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It was predicted that Los Angeles (LA) FC, where Son Heung-min (33) belongs, would win the championship after the American professional soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs. If LAFC wins, Son Heung-min will have another championship title following his victory in the UEFA Europa League last May.

The American edition of the British daily Guardian reported on the MLS playoff forecasts of three MLS experts on the 23rd (Korean time). In MLS, where the regular season is over, the eight teams from the Western and Eastern Conferences each play a quarterfinal tournament, and then the top team from each conference clashes in the finals, the MLS Cup, to determine the winner.

Aside from Lionel Messi (Inter Miami), Son Heung-min was mentioned as the player to watch in the playoffs. Reporter Graham Ruthven said, “Son Heung-min’s record of 9 goals and 2 assists in just 10 games is reminiscent of Messi,” and added, “After the failure to recruit Olivier Giroud, he brought new vitality to LAFC. He is a player who shows perfect harmony both on and off the pitch.”

Meanwhile, MLS experts unanimously predicted that LAFC would advance to the Western Conference finals and win. Reporters Ruthven and Alexander Abnos predicted that LAFC would meet with the Seattle Sounders and Jakub Frankowitz predicted that they would head to the MLS Cup after winning against San Diego FC. San Diego is first in the Western Conference, and Seattle is fifth.

In the long-awaited final match, opinions were unified as it was a match between LAFC and Inter Miami. Instead, the prospects for the winning team were mixed, with two out of three experts predicting LAFC to win.

Ruthven explained, “It is a blockbuster and dream final matchup for MLS, with the match between Messi and Son Heung-min and the retirement of Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets (Inter Miami),” and “LAFC coach Steven Cherundolo may say goodbye with another trophy in his last game.”

There were also opinions focusing on Son Heung-min and Denis Buanga. Abnos added, “It is a match between the two best defensive teams in the league, but considering how well Son Heung-min and Denis Buanga worked together at the end of the season, it is difficult to bet on them failing to win the championship.”

Instead, Frankowitz predicted that Busquets and Alba’s retirement will serve as motivation for Inter Miami, saying, “Busquets and Alba are retiring. Messi and his team will likely see them off with one last trophy.”

LAFC, where Son Heung-min belongs, will play the first round of the playoffs (Western Conference quarterfinals) with 2 wins out of 3 against Austin FC, the 6th place team in the Western Conference, at 11:30 a.m. on the 30th (home) and 10:30 a.m. on the 3rd of next month (away). If the results are the same in both matches, the third game will be held at LAFC’s home. From then on, the conference semifinals will be played as single matches. The long-awaited MLS Cup is scheduled for December 6.

Reporter Kim Myeong-seok elcrack@mtstarnews.com