Roster rifts, police raids and Son’s uncertain future leave South Korea at a crossroads

After a disaster World Cup, the team have continued to spiral, with tensions high between young and older players and the captain’s standing in question

Son Heung-min and Cristiano Ronaldo are iconic No 7s, Premier League legends and international record-breakers. Now there is a surprising danger of them having something else in common: being a divisive presence in their national teams.

On 21 October, during a parliamentary committee meeting, politician Jeong Yeon-wook put a question to acting Korea Football Association (KFA) president Lee Yong-soo, that took a story out of the sports pages and into the national conversation. “It is said that recently, within the national team squad, players have been calling him not by his name but as ‘No 7’ or ‘that person’. Do you know who that is?”