Striker Xie Hui aims for Bundesliga

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)