Son Heung-min thanks fitness coach Ventrone for staying by his side through 'tough times'

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Son Heung-min thanks fitness coach Ventrone for staying by his side through 'tough times'

Published: 19 Sep. 2022, 15:10

Gian Piero Ventrone, left, and Son Heung-min [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Walking off the pitch after scoring three goals in 13 minutes for a massive 6-2 win on Saturday, Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min headed straight for fitness coach Gian Piero Ventrone.

Saturday marked an important turning point for Son after a difficult early season. After remaining silent for the first six Premier League games of the season, Son was relegated to the bench for the first time against Leicester City.

In the 69th minute he was substituted onto the pitch and four minutes later he finally broke his dry spell with a hat-trick that very quickly silenced any of his critics and proved he is still the same player that won the Golden Boot last season.

Son Heung-min the match ball off the pitch after scoring a hat-trick in a Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Leicester City at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London on Saturday. [EPA/YONHAP]

Speaking after the game, Son gave a lot of credit to Ventrone, the notoriously tough fitness coach.

"Yeah, he is a killer,” Son said. “He is a killer but I have a really, really good relationship with Gian Piero. So obviously his English is not perfect, sometimes he is coming with his phone and translating into English from Italian.

“It means a lot. Not as football-wise, I think life-wise he gives me so much advice, which I am really grateful. He has been so helpful, giving me always a big hug in tough times and even great times he has always been next to me and every staff.

“Even today before we left the training ground, the hotel, we had a couple of minutes of having a nice conversation which made me really comfortable and really grateful."

Ventrone, who has worked with Conte for years, is the mastermind behind the Italian coaching team’s notoriously fiendish workout routines — the same routines that had players collapsing on the ground at Seoul World Cup Stadium in July.

But while his fitness regime may be extreme, Ventrone remains popular with Tottenham players.

"It's funny because normally when you have a fitness coach like that who is running you ragged you start to not like him — but we all absolutely love him," Matt Doherty told reporters while in Seoul in July.

BY JIM BULLEY [[email protected]]