Premier League's Kim likely to return for World Cup qualifier next month: agent

SEOUL, Oct. 8 (Yonhap) -- Premier League midfielder Kim Do-heon is fast recovering from a knee injury and could join his South Korean national squad for an Asian World Cup qualifier as early as next month, his publicist said Wednesday.

Kim, who made a strong performance by scoring a hat trick in a World Cup
qualifier against Turkmenistan in June, signed with West Bromwich Albion earlier
this year, becoming one of a handful of South Korean players in the competitive
English league.
The 26-year-old suffered a strained knee ligament during a match last month in
England and has returned to his country for rehabilitation. He has shown
considerable progress in recovery since and could come back for South Korea's
World Cup qualifier against Saudi Arabia on November 19, his agent said.
"We initially expected it would take six to eight weeks for him to recover. But
at the current pace, we expect it will be reduced to about a month," Shin Ji-hoon
said.
Shin said Kim will first return to England to compete in league matches and later
join the national squad, which is currently competing in the final qualifying
round for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
South Korea are grouped with Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea and the United Arab
Emirates for the qualifiers. The team will face the UAE at home next Wednesday.
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