When Ben Davies emerged from the Tottenham dressing room inside the Seoul World Cup Stadium to walk out to the team coach, his eyes were red and still glazed in the tears shed saying goodbye to his best friend.
For Son Heung-min would not be getting on that coach to sit beside or opposite him. Instead the 33-year-old was going to remain in South Korea while his team-mates were heading to Incheon International Airport to fly home to London.
That in itself is not unusual. On the past couple of occasions Tottenham have visited the country the players were given a couple of days off after the tour to see their families. Son would always take the opportunity to spend a day or two extra in Korea to be with his own loved ones.
This time it was different though. Those he had grown to love inside Spurs knew they were not going to see him again for months, maybe even years in some cases as his move to Los Angeles nears.
For 10 years the South Korean was an everyday constant around Hotspur Way, a face that would broadcast his emotion in plain sight, mostly grinning broadly and guffawing with laughter at something he had seen or heard. You could often hear Son coming from round a corner, whether he was happy or annoyed about something.
Now his grin will only be seen around the Enfield training ground in the photos on the walls and the realisation of that hit not only the players but the Spurs staff behind the scenes as well, with plenty of tears shed by those across various departments as they said their goodbyes.
For the players, some didn't want to let go and neither did Son. Guglielmo Vicario had grabbed his captain on the pitch after the game and kissed him repeatedly on the head in that very Italian way. He did so again when he saw his team-mate inside the stadium before it was time to make his way to the coach waiting 30 feet away.
After the game Son's team-mates had all thrown him into the air as a group and now he had come out to speak to the local Korean media, about 50 of them stood within a roped off area to hear him. When he was done, Pape Matar Sarr came out to get him and bring him back to the dressing room.
Inside that room words had been said by both Frank and Son, who could barely keep his emotions in check. Ten years brings you a lot of friendly faces you suddenly realise you aren't going to see any more.
"I just said a few things, very short because it's about Sonny and then he said a few things, of course very emotional, so very, very beautiful scenes about Sonny," Thomas Frank told football.london.
As the players started to file into the doorway, having showered and changed into their tracksuits to travel home, Djed Spence noticed Newcastle's new young Korean recruit Park Seung-soo waiting outside.
The 18-year-old had been standing there nervously and respectfully for some time, holding his match shirt in his hand.
Spence, who was up against Park on the pitch in the final stages of the game, spotted him and waved for him to come on over. In he went and a while later emerged with a freshly-signed Newcastle shirt, which he held aloft for the media with the proudest grin you're likely to see.
Son's earlier exit from the 1-1 draw with Newcastle had completely overshadowed the game, understandably so and expected in front of almost 65,000 fans from his homeland.
The only notable moments before were a fine low finish from Brennan Johnson in the opening minutes after good pressing from Spurs and the Wales international pulled out Son's goal celebration. Then Harvey Barnes squeezed a rocket of a shot past Antonin Kinsky at his near post before the break.
Son's moment came just after the hour mark. Frank and Spurs got it exactly right, with the Dane choosing to hold Mohammed Kudus back from what looked like being a triple substitution. Instead he waited a couple of minutes and then in the 64th minute of the game, Son's number was held aloft.
Everything paused as players from both sides swarmed around him to hug him and say goodbye. Kieran Trippier, Son's former Tottenham team-mate, came over as did Anthony Gordon, who recently named the South Korean as one of his favourite ever Premier League players and a role model he had always looked up to.
They and their Newcastle team-mates all wanted to say their goodbyes.
"I think it was very instinctive from the players,” their boss Eddie Howe said. "I think that speaks volumes for him as a person and him as a footballer that both teams recognise the way he's played the game.
"He's seen as one of the Premier League's great players. I've never had the pleasure of working with him or meeting him and talking to him but I'm sure he would be the same as he is on the pitch."
The Tottenham players on the pitch all hugged Son before both sides quickly arranged a guard of honour for him to walk through, many of them playfully slapping the back of his head as he ran past them.
It looked like he was going to hold it all together until he hugged Kudus and walked across that white line. That's when it hit him that it was all over.
He went over and hugged Frank, who has handled this whole situation in a note-perfect manner.
Then with the substitutes and staff all lined up for their turns, they realised he just wasn't going to make it all the way along due to the emotion of the moment and they enveloped him in a huge group hug. At the end of it all Son went to sit in the dugout with the tears rolling down his face.
When that image was shown on the big screen inside the stadium, the 65,000 fans let out a collective wail at the sight of their national hero's pain.
Those same fans had cheered his every touch and sung 'Nice one Sonny' every time a lone trumpeter stood up and played the tune, with the lyrics emblazoned across that same big screen that would later show his pain.
The same fans had shown love for Spurs' younger Korean recruit Yang Min-hyeok after cheering James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall's first half warm-ups down the touchline. Maddison ruffled Yang's hair and pushed him gently towards the applause.
This would prove to a night of pain for Maddison though in a very different way to Son.
Frank told football.london that this sport is just like life in that it can be both beautiful and brutal.
And so on Sunday it was beautiful for Son but brutal for his vice-captain and friend Maddison.
In the closing stages of the game, the midfielder pressed up the pitch to close down space, but as he swung his left leg out, something went in his right knee. He felt it instantly, signalling to anyone watching and his face immediately showed his devastation.
After hopping for a moment, he fell to the floor and his concerned team-mates gathered around him. From the bench, Son held his hand over his mouth in shock before looking gutted for a friend who had only been consoling him minutes earlier.
For Maddison had not even started a game since his return from a knee injury that kept him out of action for three months, with just two brief substitute appearances as Spurs tried to build him up slowly.
Now here he was being stretchered off after a non-contact injury and following the game the 28-year-old emerged from the dressing room on crutches, with his hood pulled down low over his face and a support worn around that same right knee.
"It's like in life and football, I think sometimes life and football can be brutal, but also sometimes very beautiful. So I think it was brutal in what happened to to Madders. It looks like a bad injury. Of course we don't know exactly the status on it. It didn't look good," Frank told football.london.
"And then on the other side, unbelievable, beautiful scenes with Sonny and his teammates, the big respect from Newcastle, can't praise that highly enough from the players on the pitch. The scenes after, first when we walk around [the pitch] and then when his team-mates gathered around him and you could see he's highly emotional."
He added on Maddison: "We are pretty sure it was the same knee that he had the previous injury in."
Tottenham were already looking for a new number 10 following the collapse of their move for Morgan Gibbs-White.
Now not only is it desperate because Dejan Kulusevski will also miss at least the first month of the season as he recovers from patella surgery, but also every team out there will know Spurs need someone and they need them quickly.
For now, Frank will continue to use either Pape Matar Sarr or Lucas Bergvall in the role with Mohammed Kudus a potential candidate.
Spurs need another body in that role. It could be that they have to finally take a run at Eberechi Eze, who can play centrally or out wide but has been linked for most of the summer with a move to Arsenal, who could well shift into gear if anyone else does.
Johan Lange, who was watching on at the Seoul World Cup Stadium as Maddison went down, will have to work through his scouted candidates that were below or alongside Gibbs-White on the wanted list.
Fabio Paratici, who remains on his consultancy deal with the club until the end of the window, will also be offering up solutions to the club and Lange.
Ultimately they will be guided by Frank and what he wants. The Dane did get one player he has liked for a while this week in Joao Palhinha who signed on loan with an option to buy reportedly worth £26.2million (30million euros).
The 30-year-old former Fulham man will bring the tackling and discipline required at the base of Frank's system and give licence to players like Rodrigo Bentancur to get up the pitch in the way he used to under Antonio Conte. The Portuguese also has the Premier League experience that should allow him to hit the ground running.
When football.londonasked Frank what attracted him to Palhinha, he said: "It was always his abilities and if you look at the squad I don’t think we have his ability or package as a clear number six with his profile.
"I actually think Rodri (Bentancur) can play there as well but I think they could complement each other well in there if, for example, it is those two or also other players. I think Pape (Sarr) is extremely promising. We have Bissouma and Bergvall as well.
"But [Palhinha’s] defensive qualities, his ability to be in the centre of the pitch, very disciplined, his distribution, short, diagonals, [passes] in behind and then his ability to break up play. Especially if you are playing away from home or against good counter-attacking teams. It’s very important to have one that, you know, is not running away or gets attracted to something. His set-piece ability in both boxes is a key thing and he has some experience which is good."
football.london suggested that even if Palhinha did end up being a short-term deal it gave 19-year-olds Archie Gray and Bergvall another year to grow and develop into the role Frank had been looking for.
"Yes that is a very good point. Thank you for asking that, that is what I should have said. You are right," he said. "It is two big talents that I am really pleased are in the building but it's also clear they need to grow.
"Pape has shown that. It's not about age. They are 19, he is 22. It’s not that. Some are ready when they are 19, some at 20, some at 22 or 23, but you can clearly see Pape is just a tiny bit ahead and is a big talent. We have been very pleased with him."
There is a certain irony, or perhaps good timing, to the fact that the day before Palhinha was announced, Gray put in his best performance in midfield for Spurs.
The teenager was everywhere in the friendly against Newcastle, sliding into tackles, pressing high in the hear, dribbling past people and trying to create chances. He did all of that despite a clash of heads that left him holding the back of his head for a long time after, and struggling enough after one long run that Bentancur came over to check on him.
"Archie Gray stood out. I think he was really, really impressive," said Frank after the game. "I like the way he was carrying the ball forward, his role down the side and the half-space runs and I also think his aggression in the duels and the pressure was very good."
Gray will be needed this season and he will grow simply by learning from players like Palhinha and Bentancur in training. The teenager would have learned plenty in his season as a centre-back that he can take into his midfield career.
It's when his confidence is up that you can see just how technically excellent he is, also with awareness of what's around him. Frank knows he can become a star, but he needs to be brought along carefully.
The Spurs head coach also needs to trim his squad and decisions have been made on a number of the young players.
football.london understands that Luka Vuskovic, Jamie Donley, Will Lankshear, George Abbott, Yang Min-hyeok and Tyrese Hall have all been made available for loan alongside Alfie Devine and Dane Scarlett.
Loan moves for some of those players are imminent, with deals set to be completed, while others are due to discuss moves. That's not even counting players like Bryan Gil and the injured Manor Solomon while Yves Bissouma is now in the final 11 months of his contract.
Kota Takai, who is currently dealing with plantar fascia, remains part of the first team squad and his situation will be assessed later in the window if Spurs were to bring in another defender, to ensure he gets the most game time possible.
There is just under a month left of the transfer window but only nine days until the Super Cup clash with PSG and 12 days until the Premier League season begins with the visit of Burnley.
Kudus and Palhinha will help Frank but he needs more new faces because he's discovering quickly that injuries target Tottenham in specific areas rather spreading evenly.
Son's departure to the USA will follow Palhinha's arrival before those loans begin heading out the door. Frank will be waiting to see exactly who walks in through it.
