Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung-min said he will try to live up to his fans' expectations now that he has received an exemption from conscription after South Korea won the gold medal at the Asian Games.
South Korea won gold at the under-23 tournament with a 2-1 victory over Japan in Indonesia on Saturday, meaning the 20 players in the squad will avoid a mandatory 21-month military service.
Much of the focus has been on Son, 26, who was permitted by Tottenham to seek a last-chance bid for exemption from his impending duty as one of South Korea's overage players.
"I left my club for such a long time," Son told reporters at Incheon Inernational Airport in Seoul, where hundreds of fans waited for the athletes' arrival. "As a footballer, this is not the limit of my ambitions. I think what's important is the future, and I'll try to accomplish what people want from me."
That future will not include time in the army thanks to a tough schedule of seven games in 17 days at the Asian Games.
"It was the first time since my middle or high school days that I played that many matches in such a short period of time," said Son, the team's captain for the tournament. "But I learned many things. Although I was physically tired, I tried not to show it to my teammates, and I always worked hard to sacrifice for the team. The players followed me, and that's why we got a good result."
After being greeted by a hail of sweets and then eggs at the airport after early exits from the last two World Cups, South Korea's homecoming on Monday was a much happier affair.
There will be little rest for Son, Jo Hyeon-woo and Hwang Ui-jo, the three overage players, who will report for senior national team duty on Wednesday -- two days ahead of South Korea's friendly with Costa Rica, the first game in charge for coach Paulo Bento.
Cho, the goalkeeper, registered to join the K-League's military club, Sangju Sangmu, in December, but can now follow his dream -- one he expressed to ESPN FC during the World Cup.
"Fans are expecting me to go to Europe and I am determined to show that I am good enough," Cho said.
Hwang, who plays for Gamba Osaka, was the star of the tournament with nine goals.
U23s coach Kim Hak-bom, who earned a contract through the Olympics in 2020, thanked the "wild cards" for helping the team.
"The three players did more than what they were supposed to do," Kim said. "They really led their young teammates well. We earned a good result because of our players' hard-working effort."