Heung-min Son says he experienced racist exclusion during his time in Germany. He had “a lot of very difficult moments” in his younger years, the former Bundesliga professional told the South Korean press.

South Korean international and former Bundesliga professional Heung-min Son says he experienced racist exclusion during his time in Germany. “I went to Germany at a young age and I experienced many very difficult moments that you can’t even imagine,” the current star striker of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur told football fans in Seoul, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported on Tuesday. “I faced a lot of racism.” He did not get more specific. The fan meeting, which took place with the former Hamburg man on Monday, was later uploaded as a video on YouTube.

The racism experienced in Germany probably also triggered feelings of revenge in him, the 29-year-old said. That is why the 2-0 win over Germany at the 2018 World Cup in Russia was the most memorable moment in his career so far, he said. Son scored the second goal for the 2002 World Cup runners-up in injury time, but despite the win, South Korea were also eliminated in the preliminary round.

Son had joined Hamburger SV as a 16-year-old. After five years, he moved to the then Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen. He played at the Werksclub until 2015 before leaving for Tottenham Hotspur.