Son injured finger in table tennis row on eve of South Korea's Asian Cup loss

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A dispute over a game of table tennis resulted in Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min injuring his finger on the eve of South Korea's semifinal defeat at the Asian Cup.

"It happened when some young players went up to play table tennis, and Son Heung-min and other older players took issue with it," a South Korean Football Federation official told Yonhap News Agency, as translated by ESPN.

"The players exchanged a few words and Son hurt his finger in the process."

The 31-year-old was cleared to play the semifinal, with his index and middle fingers on his right hand bandaged together during South Korea's 2-0 defeat to Jordan.

Son's South Korean teammate, Lee Kang-in, issued an apology after the incident was made public.

"We have caused great disappointment to the soccer fans who always support our national team. I'm really sorry," Paris Saint-Germain's Lee said in an Instagram story.

"I should have taken the lead and followed my brothers' instructions, but I'm just sorry for showing football fans a bad image. I apologise to the many people who were disappointed by me.

"From now on, I will try to help my brothers become better players and people."

Son returned to Tottenham last weekend, appearing as a substitute in Saturday's win against Brighton & Hove Albion.