Heung-min Son has won his race to be fit for South Korea’s World Cup opener against Uruguay, boss Paulo Bento has confirmed.
There were huge fears the Tottenham winger could play a limited role in Qatar after suffering a fractured eye socket earlier this month.
The 30-year-old required surgery to solve the problem of missing Spurs’ last four games before the World Cup break.
Despite concerns over his injury, South Korea were willing to bet on their skipper as they ruled out letting him out of the 26-man squad.
Son returned to full training last week to give his nation a boost by wearing a face mask.
And Bento revealed the ex-Bayer Leverkusen star had done enough in training to convince him of a starting spot in South Korea’s game against Uruguay on Thursday.
During Wednesday’s press conference, he said: “Sonny can play. Yes, he can play.
“I think the fact that he wears a mask is not a disadvantage for him. It is rather natural for him.
“We have stuck to the plan since we arrived here and the way we have integrated it into our group shows that it has come naturally.
“We will see tomorrow how it will be.
“We hope he will feel comfortable as much as possible and we will use the best strategy to make him feel comfortable during the game.
“But he knows and we know that we cannot rule out any risk.”
Uruguay coach Diego Alonso spoke about Son when he faced the media as he refuted claims that his team were targeting his vulnerability around his face.
He remarked: “It is difficult to answer your question.
“The question is about Son and we have the utmost respect for Son, but they have other footballers and are very well trained with an outstanding starting XI.
“The only advantage we will have here is our football.
“We will try to be better than them and use our players, not use the other team’s difficulties.”
Son is trying to become the second South Korean player to score in three World Cups after Park Ji-sung.
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