Fresh off his first career hat trick in Germany, South Korean footballer Son Heung-min said Monday he will now shift his focus to the country's two upcoming friendly matches.
Son landed at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, early Monday, to join the national team training camp set to open on Tuesday. South Korea will host Switzerland at 8 p.m. Friday at Seoul World Cup Stadium, and will travel to Dubai to face Russia on Nov. 19.
Playing for Bayer Leverkusen in the top German league Bundesliga, the 21-year-old dynamo scored three times and set up another in a 5-3 win on Saturday over Hamburger SV, his former club.
Son became the first South Korean to pick up a hat trick in Europe, but he attributed his accomplishment to luck.
"Since I used to play for Hamburger, I felt bad for my former teammates," Son told reporters here Monday. "As you probably saw from the highlights, I was pretty lucky to score all those goals."
Son said he's looking forward to taking on Switzerland and Russia, both well above the 56th-ranked South Korea in the FIFA rankings. Switzerland is at No. 7 and Russia is at 19th. All three countries have qualified for next year's World Cup in Brazil.
"Both are strong European sides, and it will be a good opportunity to test ourselves," Son said. "I've said the same thing every time I reported to the national team camp. My goal is to play my best."
In those two friendlies, Son will likely team up with striker Kim Shin-wook, who leads the domestic K League Classic with 19 goals this season.
Head coach Hong Myung-bo recalled the 196-centimeter striker after keeping him off the team for the previous five contests. The coach had earlier said Kim's presence on the field was detrimental to the team's offense because wingers and midfielders simply kept looking to send in long crosses for the tall forward, rather than trying to make more creative plays on the ground.
The coach then said last week, announcing the roster, that he hoped Kim will be a useful weapon for his side. Son is a close friend of Kim's, and said he hopes Kim will maintain his excellent form of late on the national team.
Despite being a rising star at the club level, Son hasn't always fit in with the national team system, either under Hong or under Hong's predecessor, Choi Kang-hee. Son has at times started matches on the bench, but he said Monday that he doesn't mind battling teammates for playing time on the national team.
"In national team camps, there are always bound to be competitions for starting positions," Son said. "I will prepare hard from the start of the training so that I can play (a lot of minutes) during the matches." (Yonhap News)
