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Hamburg boss eager to keep Son

Nov. 7, 2012 - 19:26 By Korea Herald
Hamburg’s Son Heung-min celebrates his goal against Ausgburg last month. (Penta-Yonhap News)
BERLIN (AFP) ― Hamburg coach Thorsten Fink has said he is eager to keep South Korea star Son Heung-min at the Bundesliga club while both Premier League giants Liverpool and Arsenal are reported to have shown interest.

The 20-year-old Son, who has made 12 international appearances, has been in impressive form this season and is the club’s top scorer with five goals in 10 games.

With Son’s contract set to expire in June 2014, Fink says he wants to keep his star forward to help build a title-winning team, but Son was evasive last week when asked about his future with the north German club.

“We want to achieve something with Son,” Fink told German Sky Sport News.

“I think it would be better for his sporting development if he stayed and played with us.

“When anyone plays well, there is of course always a bit of transfer speculation about him.

“Ultimately, Son must know that we want to build something here and we have kept hold of players who want to also achieve something.”

Hamburg is at Freiburg on Saturday and is currently ninth in the league having lost 3-0 at home to Bundesliga leader Bayern Munich last weekend.

Call-ups for Korea vs. Australia

SYDNEY (AP) ― Serbia-based Eli Babalj has been named on his first Australia squad while goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer and Luke Wilkshere will also return from Europe after being named to the national side for a Nov. 14 friendly against South Korea in Hwaseong.

The 20-year-old Babalj of Red Star Belgrade will be joined by Tom Rogic of the A-League’s Central Coast Mariners and the Melbourne Heart’s Aziz Behich as the three first-timers named by Australia coach Holger Osieck on the 19-man squad.

The South Korea match will serve as preparation for next month’s East Asian Cup qualifiers, where it is expected that Osieck will rely heavily on young and Australia-based talent.

South Korea is 25th in the current FIFA rankings while Australia is 34th.

In Asian World Cup qualifying for 2014, South Korea leads Group A with wins against Qatar (4-1) and Lebanon (3-0), a draw against Uzbekistan (2-2) and a loss to Iran (0-1).

Australia is in second place in Group B.

Inter, Milito lead global poll

LONDON (AP) ― Inter Milan moved to the top of the AP Global 10 soccer rankings by the Associated Press on Tuesday, replacing Barcelona after ending Juventus’ 49-match unbeaten run.

Argentine striker Diego Milito was voted player of the week by AP’s panel of 20 international soccer writers, ousting Lionel Messi from the top spot by scoring two goals in Inter’s 3-1 victory over Juventus.

Barcelona was second in the poll, closely followed by Bayern Munich and Manchester United, who are at the top of their respective leagues in Germany and England.

Inter scored 165 points out of a possible 200, with Barcelona on 128 and Bayern Munich on 126. Manchester United had 118.

Each panelist picks 10 teams and players, with 10 points for first place and one for 10th. The weekly survey includes journalists from Europe, South America, North America and Asia.

Milito scored 132 points from the 20 writers, with Brazil’s Neymar on 115, one ahead of Robin van Persie, Manchester United’s Dutch striker.