Tottenham boss Antonio Conte is "confident" Son Heung-min will be fit in time to play a part in the Qatar World Cup after undergoing surgery on his eye injury.
The Spurs attacker sustained four fractures around his left eye on Tuesday during their 2-1 win at Marseille following a collision with Chancel Mbemba. It has left South Korea's star man in a race against time to be available for the tournament in Qatar, which gets under way on November 20.
The 30-year-old had surgery on Friday and therefore missed Tottenham’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday. He is also expected to sit out next week’s matches against Nottingham Forest and Leeds but his club manager provided a positive update with South Korea set to begin their World Cup with a Group H fixture with Uruguay on November 24.
“Now, he is at home,” Conte said. “I sent him a message yesterday after the surgery and Sonny was really, really disappointed for this situation but I hope for him he will recover very well and play in the World Cup.
“I was a player and I know the importance of playing in the World Cup. Tonight he was the first person to play this game [vs Liverpool ], for sure he missed us. I am confident, confident that he can come back quickly and play the World Cup for South Korea.”
Spurs missed Son's presence as they couldn't quite find an equaliser despite a late onslaught on Liverpool's goal. Conte's side found themselves two goals down at half-time after a bright Liverpool start saw Mohamed Salah thump in the opener, before the Egyptian was gifted a second by Eric Dier's mistake.
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The hosts emerged for the second half with renewed vigour though and soon reduced the deficit, substitute Dejan Kulusevski feeding Harry Kane who found the far corner with a pinpoint strike to put Liverpool's defence into panic mode. Spurs had already hit the woodwork twice and forced Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson into a number of big saves, but failed to earn a share of the spoils as the Reds held firm.
Results elsewhere saw Tottenham slip to fourth in the table behind high-flying Newcastle, but Conte was adamant his side could not have done much more. "It is difficult to explain the defeat tonight," he said. "I think we deserved much more, but also in the first half and when we were in the dressing room, I was happy with what I saw.
"We put a lot of pressure on Liverpool and I think at 2-0 down, I didn’t know why. And in the second half, we played well and created many chances. It’s a pity and hard to explain these kinds of games and our fans deserve better because when you don’t win, but when you see a team who want to fight from the start until the end, I am proud."
