FIFA 23 Road to the World Cup Heung-Min Son Player Review

Black Friday definitely brought some serious content overload this weekend with loads to grind, loads to unpack (literally), and the introduction of two new squads with game changing talent sprinkled throughout.

Just want to take a moment to point out just how perfectly the card design of the World Cup Icons matches the style of the dynamic images. Some absolute legends of the game, at enormous price tags, and I can’t wait to see how they follow it up with Team 2.

But our focus today falls on the other promo squad after your votes over on Twitter lead us in the direction of Road to the FIFA World Cup Heung Min Son.  I don’t think I was alone in thinking on first glance that these cards were going to have the potential for upgrades… but nonetheless they still offer some quality options.

There are times that I don’t really care which card wins the vote and honestly it is extremely helpful in narrowing down the endless options of cards to review.  But I would be lying if this time around I wasn’t rooting for the man in the mask.  Not because of the statistics, nation and certainly not his club… but because both NIF Min Son and his upgraded 90 rated IF have been completely underwhelming for me.  I really wanted to see if third times a charm this weekend.

Which of these players do you want @MaeNine_ to review next? 🧐

— FUTBIN (@FUTBIN) November 25, 2022

With a healthy dose of skepticism already facing RTFWC Son, I opted for the less obvious HAWK chemistry style to try and boost the attacking output as the Spurs speedster led the line of my 4-2-2-2 formation this weekend. There is an obvious shout for using the ENGINE chemistry style here, but I felt the pace, shooting and strength all served me well throughout this review;

Son proved to be more than just the man in the mask (which would have been a fantastic in game touch) all Weekend League long in the following squad:

Starting Squad

In-Game Squad 

Overall 

Rating: 9/10

Pace Rating: 10/10

Dribbling Rating: 8.5/10

Shooting Rating: 10/10

Passing Rating: 8/10

Physical Rating: 8.5/10

Defending Rating: N/A

Finally, a version of Min Son that operates the way his statistics would suggest… in most cases. There were still a few issues, but he finished everything and was a huge improvement in that category.

Some key goals from his 13 tally this weekend and forced a fair few quits. I almost need to keep track of minutes at this point. The tally is certainly lower than it would have been with those extra minutes.

The fact that this card is down 125k since my review is huge for the value. I would suggest the drop is down to constant packs, realization these cards are not live, or maybe just a general gradual drop? But it is 100% not down to performance…

Main Statistics – Shooting

Shooting Rating: 10/10

Weak Foot: ★★★★★

Trait: Finesse Shot

The reason I went with the HAWK chemistry comes back to my previous experience with Min Son’s cards. I didn’t want past experience to impact my review too much… but in this case I feel like it paid off.

The 5 STAR WEAK FOOT on this card is at the highest level and cannons off the left… Certainly aided by the 98 SHOT POWER and makes tight angles, far post finishes, look easy.

The weak foot + shot power was not the only combo firing … the FINESSE SHOT + 97 FINISHING was another quality weapon and demanded opponents step out from their defensive shells… scoring goals and offering space to exploit in behind. Having the OUTSIDE FOOT really would have been the icing on the cake, but wasn’t overly missed.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins Rating: 4.5/5

By a simple progression standpoint, this card is perfectly priced. The 90 Inform is approximately 300k more than the inform… And the RTFWC edition, which is essentially another inform, has just about followed suit after the overnight drop.

I do think that a card hovering around 700k should be offering just a little bit more in all attacking categories. There were a few niggling frustrations that will be discussed shortly that just have me questioning the price overall.

Good vs. Bad

Good vs Bad Rating: 4.5/5

This is certainly a vastly improved card from the inform version… and while the statistics are not wildly increased, the performance in game was notable… here is what works:

+ The 91 ACCELERATION & 96 SPRINT SPEED operate exactly as they appear and cause a lot of problems… the CONTROLLED AcceleRATE type allows the card to simply function as advertised and the sprint speed is definitely the star of the show.

+ It always catches me off guard when looking into Son that he is 183cm | 6’0 tall. His shifty playstyle and blistering pace in real life always makes me picture him being smaller. During this review I benefited from the South Korean’s height… but not for goals. Opponents continue to relentlessly press this year and I quite enjoyed the option to lob balls up to Son and Morientes who both knocked them down and avoided the press beautifully.

There are of course some concerns with this card that I mentioned… Both of which could be “solved” with an ENGINE chemistry style and so I tried it for a few matches… With no success. It is worth noting that this was at the end of the review and therefore the matches require more quickness and precision, but I could not feel an improvement all the same.

- I was on a nice roll of quality passing cards and others that outperformed expectations… But Son felt the opposite. The 88 VISION & 88 SHORT PASSING were two key culprits and I just feel like the 6 assists would have been improved with more quality.

- The movement and dribbling with Son was a key issue in the previous cards I have used… and it was no different this time around. The 4 STAR SKILLS, 88 AGILITY & 80 BALANCE really should have been enough, but Son does not match the responsiveness they suggest. The 90 DRIBBLING was no help either and ability to create shots was largely left up to pace or relying on teammates passing.

- I put this in a separate section to continue my trait conspiracy… worth noting that Son does not have the FLAIR trait. Just saying.

Closing Words

There are a lot of fast strikers that can finish chances, and a lot of them are quick enough on the dribble to create a ton of chances for themselves in tight spaces… and that worries me about this card's price tag.  OOP Mo Salah is an excellent example for reference.

But I will say… That same category of players do not have many candidates that can fire them like Son can on both feet… Take Mo Salah again.  The ones that can… Cost a fortune, see WC Eusebio.

Perhaps I needed to give the ENGINE a longer shot, but I have had a ton of experience with this card and different versions to know that it is largely a body type and feel issue over statistics.  If you like the CR7’s and Haaland’s of the game then you will love this card as an upgrade.  If those style of cards do not suit your fancy, you will find many of the same frustrations staring back at you in Sonny’s smiling face.