Soccer-Bento looks for collective solution after Son's S.Korea struggles

"We should watch the game and check what we didn't do so well, instead of analysing just one player." Son was largely ineffective against Dick Advocaat's defensive Iraqis as he once again struggled to show his club form for the national team. While the ex-Bayer Leverkusen attacker has been in prolific form for Spurs, scoring twice in three Premier League games this season and 22 times in all competitions last year, he has netted just once in his last eight games for South Korea.

Head coach Paulo Bento wants his South Korea team to work together to find a solution to their scoring problems rather than leaning on the talent of Tottenham Hotspur's Son Heung-min. The 29-year-old Premier League forward failed to find the net in the 0-0 draw with Iraq on Thursday as the Koreans made a low-key start to the final phase of Asia's preliminaries for the 2022 World Cup.

Bento is attempting to secure the country's 10th straight World Cup finals appearance - and 11th in total - but said he is focussing on an improved collective performance when the Taeguk Warriors take on Lebanon in Suwon on Tuesday. "We know how important Son is in our way of playing," Bento told a news conference, Yonhap news reported. But Son's struggles "can't be an excuse".

"For me, concentrating on one player isn't the best way for our team. We need to find the collective solution," he said. "We should watch the game and check what we didn't do so well, instead of analysing just one player." Son was largely ineffective against Dick Advocaat's defensive Iraqis as he once again struggled to show his club form for the national team.

While the ex-Bayer Leverkusen attacker has been in prolific form for Spurs, scoring twice in three Premier League games this season and 22 times in all competitions last year, he has netted just once in his last eight games for South Korea. That goal came against Lebanon in the previous round of qualifying for Qatar 2022 in June. The pressure will be on Son to have a similar impact on Tuesday.

"I didn't get enough rest after my club match," Son said, according to Yonhap. "I don't want to talk about my physical condition right now because it will sound like an excuse. But it's obviously difficult to play in Korea only a couple of days after flying in from Europe.

"I have lacked sleep because of the time change, but I'll try to prepare for the next one as well as I can."

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