INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Son Heung-min has joined up with South Korea and will be missing for Tottenham during his country's Asian Cup campaignSouth Korea's
Football Association has given gold medals to the children of four dead players who received fakes after their 1960 Asian Cup win.The
country has not won the Asian Cup since that success, and media reports and some fans blame their failure to do so on the "curse" of the
fakes."They were coated with cheap gold, which peeled off easily," said Park Kyung-hwa, who played in the 1960 team.In 2014, the KFA started
issuing replacement pure gold medals.They gave out six to former players or their families prior to the 2015 Asian Cup
However, South Korea lost in the final of that tournament after being beaten 2-1 by Australia.The KFA handed out four more prior to the
start of the 2019 Asian Cup, but an official has denied the latest awards were made to help improve the prospects of the team at the current
tournament."It happened a long time ago so it's quite a challenge to locate the family members of the players," he said, with eight
members of the 1960 squad yet to receive their gold medals.Kim Hwa-soon, daughter of defender Kim Hong-bok was one of those to be given a
"Although he [my father] didn't speak about it [the fake medals], I'm sure he felt sad at the time," she said."I really hope the players can
win this year's Asian Cup - I'm sure my father wants to see it too."South Korea will have the services of Tottenham forward Son Heung-min
for the rest of the tournament after he joined up with the squad following his club's defeat by Manchester United on Sunday.He is set to
play against China on Wednesday as the two countries compete for top spot in their group to avoid a potentially more difficult route to the
