*This content was translated by AI.
Son Heung-min (34, LA FC), the captain of the South Korean national soccer team, selected Cristiano Ronaldo (41, Alnasr) as his "World Cup Legend."
According to a video released on the FIFA World Cup social media (SNS) on the 5th (Korea time), Son Heung-min chose Ronaldo when asked to pick his "favorite FIFA World Cup legend."
Son Heung-min has picked Ronaldo as his idol in several interviews, and the answer to the question about World Cup legend was Ronaldo as well.
Earlier, Son Heung-min told the Guardian, "I know that talent alone is not enough to become a professional player. My idol once mentioned that Ronaldo is a player who puts in more effort than he has.
Due to his unwavering respect for Ronaldo, Son Heung-min and Ronaldo's compound word "SONALDO" was once Son Heung-min's nickname, and in fact, some foreign media still introduce Son Heung-min with this expression.
Ronaldo, however, has yet to experience a win on the World Cup stage, where he played five times from the 2006 World Cup in Germany to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The 2026 FIFA World Cup 2026 FIFA North and Central America World Cup is Ronaldo's sixth.
Lee Jae-sung (34, Mainz05), vice-captain of the Korean national team, named Park Ji-sung (retired) as his World Cup legend.
Park Ji-sung was the main player in the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup semifinals and also the "captain" who led the team to the first round of 16 away games in the 2010 South Africa World Cup.
In addition, Japan's Kubo Takefusa (25, Real Sociedad) chose his own player, Yuto Nagatomo (40, FC Tokyo), as a World Cup legend.
Nagatomo, who played in four consecutive World Cups from the 2010 World Cup in South Africa to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, is still on board with the Japanese national team and is set to play in his fifth World Cup.
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*This content was translated by AI.
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![Kim Do-young and Ahn Hyun-min, the 2003 best friends, also paid attention to the U.S [2026 WBC]](https://image.starnewskorea.com/cdn-cgi/image/f=webp,w=1200,h=800,fit=cover,g=face/21/2026/03/2026030506220190906_1.jpg)
