Tottenham defender Micky Van De Ven has now shared what his former captain Heung-Min Son privately told him after he copied his iconic Puskas-winning goal in the Champions League.
Tottenham Hotspur supporters have witnessed their fair share of Puskas-worthy goals over the years; from Gareth Bale’s heroics against Inter Milan in 2012, to Erik Lamela’s rabona, and of course, Heung-Min Son’s breathtaking run and finish that actually won the award.
It would’ve been hard to imagine anyone from the current Spurs squad replicating that kind of brilliance – at least not a centre-back – but then came Micky van de Ven’s outrageous goal in the 4-0 Champions League win over FC Copenhagen.
Despite Spurs being down to ten men, the Dutch centre-back picked up the ball inside his own half, dribbled past half the Copenhagen side, and fired home from the edge of the box.
According to official UEFA data, Van de Ven carried the ball an incredible 67.7 metres before scoring which happened to be the longest ever ball carry leading to a goal in Champions League history, surpassing Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr (64.4m).
Heung-Min Son’s message to former Tottenham teammate Micky van de Ven
Heung-Min Son was one of the first to react after the final whistle, commenting on Van de Ven’s Instagram post with a simple “wow… just wow.” But the former Spurs captain went a step further privately.
Speaking to TNT Sports ahead of the Manchester United clash, Micky Van de Ven was asked whether he’d heard from the South Korean after the match and whether he had compared their goals, to which the Dutch International replied:
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“Nah, he texted me as well. He said, unbelievable goal as well. He’s like, it’s unbelievable how you (were able to) make this (much) room and how you finished this goal.”
Van de Ven also admitted he’d always wanted to score a goal like Son’s. The Dutchman had made similar runs before, which only led to assists, so getting on the scoresheet this time felt extra special.
“And I just said to him, I want to make a similar goal as you, and luckily it happened,” he said.
Van de Ven can’t decide whose goal was better
In a recent Spurs video on Instagram, the players were asked: “What’s the best goal you’ve seen live?” and while most of them immediately named Van de Ven’s solo run, the Dutchman refused to name himself.
When he was pressed again in the same interview about whether he thought his strike was better than Son’s, he took a moment before replying:
“I think it’s similar to be honest. Yeah, it’s really similar. It’s difficult to say which is easy because it’s both, I think, really hard goals to score.”