ESPN was also surprised by the Son - Hwang duo's "goal storm."
Two South Korean players appeared in the Premier League's top scoring rankings. ESPN, a global sports media, was also surprised by the so-called "Korean Guy" performance.
ESPN shed light on Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan's scoring race on its official social network service (SNS) on the 28th, saying, "Two of the top six Premier League scorers this season are from South Korea."
Son Heung-min is currently tied for fourth with Jarrod Bowen (West Ham) with 11 goals, and Hwang Hee-chan is the sole sixth with 10 goals.
Son Heung-min and Hwang Hee-chan have played in the Premier League at the same time since the 2021/22 season, but it is the first time that the two players scored double-digit points at the same time.
Son Heung-min started in the 16th round of the league against Newcastle United at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, England, on the 11th and scored his team's fourth goal in the 40th minute of the second half. He succeeded in handling the penalty he got, and he scored double digits in the league with this score.
Son Heung-min has set a milestone of double-digit goals for eight consecutive seasons since the 2016/17 season. The Premier League has also highlighted this through its official SNS account.
The Premier League introduced Son Heung-min on its SNS on the 13th that he was listed on the list of legends who have scored the most double digits in consecutive seasons in the league.
Son was on par with Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Sergio Aguero (retired), Harry Kane (Bayern Munich), Thierry Henry (retired), and Sadio Mane (Al-Nasr). PL also praised Son as "the latest player in a special club," adding, "What a player."
Son Heung-min became a player who scored double figures in the Premier League for eight consecutive seasons with Arsenal legend Thierry Henry and Senegalese striker Sadio Mane, who played for Southampton and Liverpool.
Former Son Heung-min partner Harry Kane and Manchester City legend Sergio Aguero scored more than 10 goals for nine consecutive seasons, while Chelsea legend Frank Lampard scored double-digit goals for 10 consecutive seasons despite being a midfielder. Lastly, Manchester United and England's legendary striker Wayne Rooney became the first players to achieve his 10th goal for 11 consecutive years.
In addition, Hwang Hee-chan also scored double-digit points for the first time in three seasons after entering the Premier League following his senior Son Heung-min.
Hwang Hee-chan started in the 19th round of an away match against Brentford held at the G-Tech Community Stadium in Brentford on Friday. He scored consecutive goals in the 14th and 28th minutes of the first half, contributing to his team's landslide 4-1 victory.
Hwang Hee-chan scored two goals on the day to reach the 10th goal mark in the league. It is the first time since he entered the Premier League in the 2021/22 season. It is the first time in the big league, and it is the double-digit score in five seasons since he scored 11 goals for Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga in the 2019/20 season.
Hwang Hee-chan is making his career high season by scoring two more goals than the previous two seasons (5 goals in the 2021/22 season and 3 goals in the 2022/23 season).
Wolverhampton coach Gary O'Neill praised Hwang's performance by saying, "He has now scored 10 goals. It's an incredible performance," adding, "Even without Hwang, I trust every other player. There are players under 23 and younger than 21. No problem. I trust everyone." He did not worry too much about Hwang's absence from the Asian Cup.
"Hwang Hee-chan is like a dream. I always write down Hwang's name on the starting list, allowing him to keep playing. When Hwang scored, he was so good at quality that he felt at ease. He also showed such scenes in training," he said, raising his thumb on the scoring scene.
Hwang Hee-chan has 18 goals in 76 matches in the Premier League, ranking third overall in goals scored by Asian players. Now, he has only one goal gap versus Park Ji-sung (19 goals in 154 matches). If he adds one more goal, he will become the second highest scorer in Asia after Son Heung-min (114 goals in 286 matches).
Meanwhile, the two players are scheduled to join the South Korean national soccer team led by Jürgen Klinsmann in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, on January 3. South Korea will challenge for the top of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup for the first time in 64 years with a super-luxury squad including the two players.