Hernández: LAFC must do a better job of showcasing Korean star Son Heung-min to win new fans

From a step inside of the penalty arc, Son Heung-min unleashed a furious right-footed shot that curled around the hands of the diving goalkeeper.

The shot crashed into the post.

No goal.

And that was more or less it. Son didn’t have any other real chances to score in LAFC’s 2-1 defeat to FC San Diego.

Son’s first game at BMO Stadium was a major event, just like David Beckham’s and Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s debuts with the Galaxy, just like Lionel Messi’s initial months with Inter Miami.

Advertisement

Whatever its shortcomings, Major League Soccer can stage major events, and Son and LAFC delivered the latest on Sunday night.

Son’s replica jerseys were everywhere, including some that were of the Tottenham Hotspur variety. Several South Korean flags were waved in LAFC’s standing-only supporters section behind the north goal. Tickets for seats in the stadium’s second deck were selling on the secondary market for upwards of $150.

Translating such a landmark moment into sustained viewership, however, is something the MLS is still figuring out. How Son played — or, more precisely, how LAFC deployed him — won’t advance the cause.

Read more: San Diego FC defeats LAFC to spoil Son Heung-min’s home debut

Advertisement

LAFC has built a devoted fan base, and its fans will continue to pack BMO Stadium. The concern isn’t about them. The concern is about the countless other soccer fans in this country.

There is obviously an appetite to see global superstars who previously could only be watched on television, and Son belongs in that category of attraction. But once the average soccer fan has seen Son in the flesh, will that same fan follow him week after week, either at the stadium or on MLS’s Apple TV broadcasts?

Son has competed in the English Premier League. He won the Europa League three months ago to deliver a trophy to hardware-starved Tottenham. By comparison, MLS feels like a step or two down, and if fans view these games as glorified exhibitions, how many of them will care enough to invest the necessary time to follow his quest for a championship here?

Will the stage matter to fans of Korean heritage, for whom Son is what Shohei Ohtani is to the Japanese? Or are they also likely to disappear after watching Son play once or twice?

For LAFC to have any chance at holding onto the new segment of its audience, it will have to showcase its star attraction better. Son has to be more involved than he was against FC San Diego. As admirable as it was of him to relentlessly press the opposing back line, the fans didn’t pay to watch him run and run and run. They paid to watch him create some magic with the ball, and his ability to do that was compromised by the team’s limited service to him.

Advertisement

Son was primarily a winger with Tottenham, but LAFC has played him as a center forward with leading scorer Denis Bouanga on one side of him and emerging star David Martínez on the other. Starting midfielders Timothy Tillman and Igor Jesus were sidelined with injuries — Jesus won’t return this season — and Son didn’t touch the ball much until late in the game when the teams became fatigued, leading spaces to open up. LAFC outshot its opponent 17-6, but only four of its shots were on frame.

“It was not a problem of positioning,” Son said.

He added that if he’d scored on the 78th-minute shot that hit the post, “Nobody would say [anything.] I think this is all results-oriented.”

Read more: Hernández: Son Heung-min is LAFC building block to grow global brand

Advertisement

Son has played in four games for LAFC, the last three as a starter. He still hasn’t scored in the run of play. He drew a critical penalty in his debut, he registered an assist in his second game and scored on a free kick in the third.

While appreciative of the warm reception he received from the home crowd on Sunday, Son sounded as if he knew he couldn’t take the fans for granted.

“I’ve been in amazing stadiums and experienced a lot, but today was very special and I feel like the fans were amazing,” he said. “That’s why I’m upset, because they deserve more than one goal or zero points.”

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.