The Son is Smiling on Tottenham
**This is an article from a few days ago, published on Yahoo! Sport**
When we earth-dwellers finally make contact with extra-terrestrial life, it’ll be someone’s task to illustrate the various concepts of our evolved species. If we’re ever stumped trying to demonstrate what humans call pure joy, there’d be few finer examples than that of Heung-Min Son’s face when he scores a goal.
It’s a face which couldn’t be happier if it tried; a face which is having a street party and the whole neighbourhood is invited. It’s a face of inescapable fun.
In an age where the excruciating non-celebration is still just about en vogue, this is a thing to be cherished. From twanging a half-inflated floater past your older brother in the back garden as a child, to going full-Tardelli and scoring the winner in a World Cup Final; goals are supposed to be enjoyed.
Back in early-2014, Norwich’s Wes Hoolahan executed a curiously low-key celebration, after finding the net against Aston Villa, in an eventual 4-1 defeat. That’s Aston Villa, a club he quite fancied signing for in the winter transfer window, before any potential deal vanished into the Deadline Day ether. Not a former club, or even one he followed devotedly growing up, just one he wanted to play for. Now if that’s not the nadir of modern football, then it’s much worse than we thought.
Heung-Min Son, you imagine, would burst if he tried to contain his emotions in the post-goal revelry. Even if it was the last-minute clincher to relegate his boyhood club, after they’d just sold the mortgage on their stadium to fund his mother’s hip surgery. If one rolled off his backside and into the net in the game’s final seconds, to send his beloved former employers into financial oblivion; he’d still beam like a child at Christmas.
He likes scoring goals. It fills him with happiness. And that’s just fine.
Elsewhere, Dele Alli could also afford himself a cautiously optimistic grin today, after another confident afternoon’s work against Crystal Palace. The point was made on MOTD2 yesterday- and it’s worth remembering- Alli was playing in League One last season. He’s skipped a division, like one of those smart kids who take their GCSE maths exam a year early. He’s taken one look at the Championship and thought, not for me, Clive and is now playing like a seasoned professional in the country’s top division. At 19-years-of-age.
Over to you, Expectations of a Nation. Let’s see how we can ruin this one.
