Son's Three-Minute Blitz Powers MLS Past Liga MX
Two goals in 180 seconds turned an All-Star exhibition into a show
By Gus "Walk-Off" Fields
Son Heung-min doesn't need the occasion to matter to make it matter. In the MLS All-Star Game, the South Korean forward scored twice in three minutes during the first half, propelling the MLS All-Stars to a 4-3 win over the Liga MX All-Stars, according to ESPN.
All-Star games are exhibitions — nobody's fighting for a trophy — but a scoring burst like that doesn't check the calendar. It's the kind of stretch that reminds a stadium full of casual fans why a player built a career worth watching in the first place.
The night carried other weight for American soccer beyond the final score. U.S. Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone, speaking Wednesday before kickoff, said conversations to extend Mauricio Pochettino's contract as U.S. men's national team manager are "going well," per ESPN — a signal, however preliminary, that the federation wants continuity heading toward the next World Cup cycle rather than another coaching search.
Neither story is finished. Pochettino's future remains a matter of "going well," not done deal, and ESPN's report gives no firm timeline for an announcement. But between Son's burst of brilliance and Cone's carefully chosen words, it was a night that pointed toward what's coming rather than just what already happened.
— Compiled from reporting by ESPN.
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