CHARLOTTE -- Son Heung-Min needs no introduction, but as he enters the room, he begins making them anyway. As he walks through, he greets everyone with a handshake and a smile.
"I'm Sonny," he says to each individual he encounters.
It would be hard to find a corner of the world that doesn't know Sonny. He found success in Germany, became a hero in London, and is now a star for LAFC. Above all, he's an icon in South Korea. Few players are as universally beloved, which is why hundreds, sometimes thousands, greet him wherever he goes, carrying flags, jerseys and anything else that connects them to a player many see as so much more.
This week, though, he became an MLS All-Star - and wasted little time making his mark. The 34-year-old winger scored twice in a 35-minute appearance to earn MVP honors, adding yet another accolade to a career already full of them. Still, this was a first, and firsts are exciting, particularly for Son, who has seemingly done all there is to do in the sport he loves.
What isn't new, though, is everything that comes with being an All-Star. When you receive that title, you represent something, which Son, more than most, is accustomed to. He left home at age 16 to begin his career in Germany, and it didn't take long for him to be anointed Korean soccer's next great hope. He has shouldered that responsibility ever since and, now 34, it has never proved too heavy to bear. Has it been heavy? Yes, of course, but he has always found a way.
"It's never easy," the star told GOAL in a suite at Bank of America Stadium days before his All-Star debut, "but I'm happily doing it."
That happiness, if anything, is Son's trademark. More than the goals, trophies and accolades, Son's calling card has always been his smile. It's why fans have lived vicariously through him, both back home in Korea and everywhere else his career has taken him. It's also why everyone is always so eager to have Son represent them. Sponsors, clubs, even an entire country - Son is part player, part ambassador. He has been that way for as long as he can remember.
And now, even all these years later, that's okay. After nearly two decades, he hasn't just learned to live with it; he's learned to love it.
"I'm going to be honest," Son says. "If I'm honest, I never feel like this is taken for granted. I know that people want to listen or people want to see a lot of things with what I do, and I'm very open to it. I think people deserve to know what we are doing, what we are showing, because they give amazing support. I try to make time as much as I can. I really take that responsibility."
