Striker Xie Hui aims for Bundesliga
JAKARTA (JP): Only a few Far East Asian soccer players could impress European clubs and win a contract with them.
One could mention Japanese Hidetoshi Nakata, who is now playing with Italian Serie A club AS Roma after ending a contract with Perugia, as an example.
But Asia's largest country, China, has also groomed some potential players who are awaiting a contract with any European club.
Like Nakata, who impressed the Italians after his debut in the 1998 World Cup in France, the 2002 Cup may be a showcase of Chinese players.
The China Football Association has hired the legendary Yugoslav coach Velibor 'Bora' Milutinovic since early 2000 in its effort to take the team into the World Cup final rounds, jointly hosted by South Korea and Japan.
Senior player in the China national team, Ma Mingyu, was a former Perugia player, to mention one. Another player is defender Fan Zhiyi, currently playing in the England first division club Crystal Palace. Also striker Yang Chen, has performed in Eintracht Frankfurt in Germany.
Yet it is the striker Xie Hui, now plays in the second division club Alemannia Aachen, who shines in the first qualifying round. As of Sunday, he had made seven goals to become Group Nine's top scorer.
"My next ambition is to become the top scorer in the German second division," Xie told The Jakarta Post and Jawa Pos after the final Group Nine qualifying match, where China crushed Indonesia 2-0 to enter the second phase.
Xie, who appeared enthusiastic when talking about his career in Germany, said he had scored 15 goals in 24 games he played in the second division. He said he had not hit the top scoring list but he was optimistic that he could do that.
"I was transferred from my club in Shanghai to Aachen last year, in a contract valued at DM 1.5 million. It was the most expensive deal in the history of the club," he recalled.
Xie's performances have been far from disappointing. "During one and half years in Germany, I have scored more than 20 goals."
He said several German agencies had asked him to play in middle-ranking Bundesliga clubs.
"My dream is playing in Bundesliga. My favorite club is Bayern Munich (German league champion). Several German agencies have been interested in a transfer to Bundesliga," he said, refusing to name the clubs.
A fan of Argentinean Gabriel Batistuta, Xie also mentioned the differences between playing in Europe and going back to his national team.
"The national team does not train so much. The training experience is very important so you can control the ball well and your emotion in the field." (ivy)