Son Heung-min will play in South Korea’s opening World Cup match despite suffering a severe facial injury, former captain Koo Ja-cheol said.

This month, the talisman and captain of South Korea underwent surgery after suffering a fracture around his left eye while playing for Tottenham in the Champions League.

The 30-year-old forward trained with a black face mask on Friday.

Son was observed adjusting his mask multiple times while participating in drills with the rest of the South Korean team in Qatar.

On November 24th, South Korea will play their opening match against Uruguay.

Former captain Koo Ja-cheol said: “Everybody knows about him, he always plays with passion, he’s really a passionate guy, he never wants to stop.

“He joined (also) yesterday with the team training session, of course without heading, so I think he will push himself — as far as I know him — so I expect he will start.

“When someone has an injury like Sonny right now, even one of the biggest players can be scared, but it cannot stop him, as I know him.

“Of course with a mask it’s uncomfortable to play, it will not be 100 percent the same for him, but we need him to score for us to win.

“He always says to people that playing for the country is an honour.

“He will make something special for Korea.”

Photo by EPA/YONHAP