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	<title>Hamburger SV &#187; Match Recap</title>
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	<description>News from Hamburger SV German football team</description>
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		<title>Three points in Glasgow!</title>
		<link>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/three-points-in-glasgow.html</link>
		<comments>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/three-points-in-glasgow.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 22 Oct 2009 23:57:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>g?</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Celtic]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europa League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Match Recap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Team News]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Spirits remain high in the Hamburg locker room, as the decimated Macht v. d. Elbe managed to pull out 3 points from a hard fought game at Celtic Park.
REWIND!
After getting the news that Castelen may be out for his career, which would be horrible news for anyone, and especially for someone who has always seemed [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Spirits remain high in the Hamburg locker room, as the decimated Macht v. d. Elbe managed to pull out 3 points from a hard fought game at Celtic Park.<img src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/10/hsv-celtic.jpg" alt="hsv celtic" width="370" height="208" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-483" /><br />
REWIND!<br />
After getting the news that <a href="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/europa-league-hsv-v-celtic-preview.html">Castelen may be out for his career</a>, which would be horrible news for anyone, and especially for someone who has always seemed to have a positive outlook on his situation, and that Jerome is hurt, one could be forgiven for expecting our Hanseaten to play for the draw, kind of like how Celtic&#8217;s bitter rivals made the final a few years ago.  But that was not to be the case, as the order of the day was some of the better possession football I&#8217;ve seen since we <a href="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/hsv-manchester-city-part-deux.html">beat Man City</a>.  Zé set up Marcus Berg, who slotted it home for the 0-1, which held up thanks to some solid D, and some good (And bad) luck.  Celtic plunge to bottom of the table, and HSV are <em>punktgleich</em> with Hapoel on top of group C, after Hapoel hung Rapid Wien out to dry.<br />
Rost saved us more than once, our Dauerbrenner Mathijsen played to his usual standards, Rozehnal didn&#8217;t seem to make any glaring errors that I remember, Demel made a few mistakes but held his own.  Aogo played a decent game, although I was bothered with his time-wasting late in the game.<br />
Jaro was scrappy and fought for every ball (Surprise, surprise), Zé is still the steal of the year, Jansen was solid in his return from injury, and Elia started weak but got better and better until the end of the game.<br />
Berg played great, and hopefully will carry this scoring touch into the bundesliga finally.  Pitroipa is rightfully a HSV Offside fave, as his speed troubled Celtic all night, and set up a number of chances.</p>
<p>All in all, not a bad game from a team thats been decimated by injuries, especially against a desperate Celtic.  I&#8217;d feel bad, but they&#8217;d have to <a href="http://celtic.theoffside.com/celtic/interview-with-our-pals-st-pauli.html">reconsider their friendships first&#8230;</a></p>
<p>Final note: As the team went to thank the 2500 travelling fans, they were blocked by security, and apparently <a href="http://www.sportinglife.com/football/scottishpremier/celtic/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=soccer/09/10/22/SOCCER_Celtic_Quotes.html&amp;TEAMHD=celtic&amp;DIV=scotsprem&amp;TEAM=CELTIC&amp;RH=Celtic&amp;PREV_SEASON=">will be reported to UEFA</a>.  I call shenanigans to that, and hope that UEFA throws the case out.<br />
Schwarz-weiß-blaue Grüße!</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Hamburg rettet sich von der Krise, Bayern findet sich jetzt wieder drin</title>
		<link>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/hamburg-rettet-sich-von-der-krise.html</link>
		<comments>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/hamburg-rettet-sich-von-der-krise.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 27 Sep 2009 22:11:00 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>g?</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bayern Munich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bundesliga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Match Recap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Team News]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Das heißt, THREE MORE POINTS FÜR DEN SCHWARZ-WEIß-BLAU!
HSV           1:0         FC Bayern
Petric-72

Having seen the highlights, it seems we deserved the win, besides that shot that just missed/went off the post, most of the good chances were against Butt, [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Das heißt, THREE MORE POINTS FÜR DEN SCHWARZ-WEIß-BLAU!</p>
<p>HSV           1:0         FC Bayern<br />
Petric-72</p>
<p><img src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/09/scheiss-fcb.jpg" alt="" width="240" height="180" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-401" /></p>
<p>Having seen the highlights, it seems we deserved the win, besides that shot that just missed/went off the post, most of the good chances were against Butt, who didnt play up to his name (I&#8217;ve always loved that name, byyy the way).<br />
Also, it&#8217;s nice to hear the opposing coach/Hoeneß talking about how &#8220;they deserved more from the game.&#8221;<br />
That&#8217;s loser talk fellas, you only &#8220;deserve&#8221; what you get for yourself.<br />
And we got ourselves three more points and another week on top of the world!!! (Of German football).<br />
And we get Hapoel coming into town, which should end better than the Wiener-debakel.</p>
<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xamcqf&amp;related=0" width="480" height="268"><param name="movie" value="http://www.dailymotion.com/swf/xamcqf&amp;related=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"></param><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xamcqf_hamburger-sv-v-bayern-munchen_sport?embed=1"><img src="http://www.dailymotion.com/thumbnail/video/xamcqf" width="480" height="263" /></a></object><b><a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xamcqf_hamburger-sv-v-bayern-munchen_sport">Hamburger SV v Bayern Munchen </a></b><br /><i>Uploaded by <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/bradonceefoo">bradonceefoo</a>. &#8211; <a href="http://www.dailymotion.com/en/channel/sport">More professional, college and classic sports videos.</a></i></div>
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		<item>
		<title>I&#8217;m baaaaack</title>
		<link>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/im-baaaaack.html</link>
		<comments>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/im-baaaaack.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:16:40 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Aston Villa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bundesliga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Champions League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[DFB-Pokal]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[English Premier League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Europa League]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Match Recap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Player News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Team News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VfB Stuttgart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1. Bundesliga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hamburger SV]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Rapid Vienna]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SV Hamburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[UEFA Cup]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vfb Stuttgart]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Hey kids, back in the saddle again following a looooong trip to Central Europe (and no high speed internet) and a nasty bit of emergency dental work (suffice it to say, I love my dog very much and will not *kill* him for knocking out two of my front teeth. . .)

We head into Thursday&#8217;s [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Hey kids, back in the saddle again following a looooong trip to Central Europe (and no high speed internet) and a nasty bit of emergency dental work (suffice it to say, I love my dog very much and will not *kill* him for knocking out two of my front teeth. . .)</p>
<p><span id="more-392"></span></p>
<p><img src="/DOCUME~1/CLeasure/LOCALS~1/Temp/moz-screenshot.png" alt="" /><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-393" src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/09/header_logo.gif" alt="" width="85" height="100" />We head into Thursday&#8217;s Europa League match in Vienna versus Rapid with a couple of big questions. Like, can <strong>Marcus Berg</strong> fill the rather sizable shoes of injured <strong>Paolo Guerrero</strong> (in case the Hamburg Offside is your only source for HSV news&#8211;and God help you if it is&#8211;Guerrero is lost for [most likely] the season with a blown knee, suffered in a World Cup qualifier for Peru against Venezuela. And when did Guerrero get back on the good side of the Peruvian FA?)? Can HSV continue their great run of form against <a href="http://cl.theoffside.com/" target="_blank">Champions League</a> qualifiers VfB and Rapid? Well, I can answer yes to the first part of the question as <em>Die Rothosen</em> dispatched <a href="http://VfB.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Stuttgart </a>3:1 in a match that wasn&#8217;t really that close, on absolute blasts by <strong>Mladen Petric</strong> and my new fave <strong>Eljero Elia</strong>, and a very handsome goal by <strong>Ze&#8217; Roberto</strong> in stoppage time. Let me say this about that&#8211;Elia seems to me to be the piece that we&#8217;ve been missing for so long. He&#8217;s a guy with great pace, great finishing ability and some (OK-A whole lot of) flair. My hope is that he and Berg and Ze&#8217; combined can not only fill the scoring void left by Paolo Guerrero, but give us a better goal differential than last year. My two cents for this week:  <strong>David Rozehnal</strong> started at CD with <strong>Joris Mathijsen</strong> and did not impress at all. For a big guy, he was waaaaaaay to passive. I think we see Boateng paired with Mathijsen in league and Cup play, and Rozehnal in Europa League matches.</p>
<p>This week HSV travels to Vienna to take on Rapid. Rapid find themselves in the group stage of the Europa Cup on the strength of their 2:2 aggregate defeat (on away goals 1:2) of EPL side <a href="http://villa.theoffside.com/" target="_blank">Aston Villa</a>.  We face Rapid again in the group stage, but not until Matchday 5 (2 December).</p>
<p>Not sure what else to say at this point, other than I don&#8217;t know if I want to start talking about our successes for fear of jinxing the club. But isn&#8217;t that a supporter thing to do? <a href="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/the-best-of-times-the-worst-of-times.html" target="_blank">I think Nick Hornby would agree</a>.  .   .</p>
<p>I won&#8217;t be live blogging the Rapid match, as it happens during the workday in the US, but I will *hopefully* put up a post where we can all sound off on the match.</p>
<p>Thanks for your patience everybody. B-T-W, I am looking for a new wing man, as Evan seems to be missing in action. This is your chance to get in on what looks to be a very memorable season. If you are at all interested, please email Daryl [at] theoffside [dot] com and mention the Hamburg Offside co-blogging position.</p>
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		<item>
		<title>Let&#8217;s get it on!</title>
		<link>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/lets-get-it-on.html</link>
		<comments>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/lets-get-it-on.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:33:11 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bayern Munich]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bundesliga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Champions League]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Match Preview]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Match Recap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Schalke 04]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Team News]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VfB Stuttgart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[VfL Wolfsburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[1. Bundesliga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Hamburger SV]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SC Freiburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SV Hamburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vfb Stuttgart]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vfl Wolfsburg]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[After an interminably long offseason, the Bundesliga kicks off today with the spotlight match going to Wolfsburg v Stuttgart. Good thing HSV plays at Freiburg on Sunday&#8211;they need the extra training after this week&#8217;s debacles.

Monday past saw Die Rothosen being their Pokal chase with a match away versus 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf. As Jan [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>After an interminably long offseason, the <a href="http://bundesliga.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Bundesliga</a> kicks off today with the spotlight match going to <a href="http://wolfsburg.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Wolfsburg</a> v <a href="http://VfB.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Stuttgart</a>. Good thing HSV plays at <strong>Freiburg</strong> on Sunday&#8211;they need the extra training after this week&#8217;s debacles.</p>
<p><span id="more-388"></span></p>
<p>Monday past saw <em>Die Rothosen</em> being their Pokal chase with a match away versus 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Dusseldorf. <a href="http://bundesliga.theoffside.com/dfb-pokal/dfb-pokal-first-round-famous-45-heroic-90-epic-120-and-transcendental-11957.html" target="_blank">As Jan mentioned in his Pokal wrap-up</a>, HSV were more Swiss than German in <img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-389" src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/08/swiss-cheese-120x120.jpg" alt="" width="120" height="120" />the first half&#8211;Swiss cheese, that is. The second half brought some stability and clear thinking to the defense, but Fortuna would not go quietly into that good night, <em>scoring the tying goal in the final 3 seconds of  the second extra period</em>. The match went to PKs where Hamburg slotted 4 home, while <strong>Frank Rost</strong> stood on his head and saved 2 of the 3 shots he faced. Whew.</p>
<p>Yesterday, the return leg of the Europa League 3rd qualifying round took place at the &#8216;Bank against Danish side Randers FC.  HSV dominated the first leg in Randers the week before, scoring early and scoring often and leaving with an insurmountable 4-nil victory. With advancement to the next round assured, Bruno took the opportunity to field a side of players who had not seen action so far this season, with <strong>Joris Mathijsen</strong> and <strong>David Jarolim</strong> the only regulars (and thereby cementing their roles as the irreplaceable guys on our roster&#8211;God help us if they get hurt) who started the match. And they played like a bunch of guys who hadn&#8217;t played so far this year. Here&#8217;s the lineup that took the pitch last night:</p>
<p><!--[if gte mso 9]&amp;gt; Normal   0                                 false   false   false      EN-US   X-NONE   X-NONE                                                     MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 &amp;lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&amp;gt; &amp;lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]&amp;gt;--></p>
<p align="center">Hesl</p>
<p align="center">Benjamin    Mathijsen    Rozehnal    Jansen</p>
<p align="center">Jarolim    Tavares</p>
<p align="center">Castelen    Ben-Hatira</p>
<p align="center">Torun    Berg</p>
<p style="text-align: left">The match ended with Hamburg on the short side of a 1-nil decision, but I think it gave Bruno the opportunity to see some of the bench players in a game situation without any negative consequences. For their efforts, they were drawn with French Cup holders Guingamp of Ligue 2. Guingamp is notable not only for being just the second club outside Ligue 1 to win the French Cup, but also as the club that gave current <a href="http://chelsea.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Chelsea</a> stars <strong>Didier Drogba</strong> and <strong>Florent Malouda</strong> their starts in Continental football. <a href="http://www.espnstar.com/football/other-football/news/detail/item303655/Labbadia-not-underestimating-Guingamp/" target="_self">Here&#8217;s Bruno&#8217;s take on Guingamp</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: left"><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-390" src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/08/sc-freiburg-2-120x120.jpg" alt="" width="120" height="120" />And now we get down to business. Sunday, Hamburg take on newly promoted SC Freiburg to start their Bundesliga campaign.  Freiburg dominated the 2. Bundesliga last season, wrapping up the championship and assured promotion by Matchday 31 (pretty damn impressive. . .). Still, you have to believe that HSV are poised to get a favorable result and take the full 3 points.  Following what can graciously be described as a tumultuous offseason, we appear to have the deepest and most talented group that I have seen in my almost 3 years as a supporter.  Here&#8217;s the XI I think will be on the pitch on Sunday:</p>
<p style="text-align: left"><!--[if gte mso 9]&amp;gt; Normal   0                                 false   false   false      EN-US   X-NONE   X-NONE                                                     MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 &amp;lt;![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]&amp;gt; &amp;lt;![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]&amp;gt;--></p>
<p align="center">Rost</p>
<p align="center">Demel    Mathijsen    Boateng    Jansen</p>
<p align="center">Jarolim    Ze Roberto</p>
<p align="center">Trochowski    Pitropa</p>
<p align="center">Guerrero    Petric</p>
<p align="center">
<p style="text-align: left">Bottom line:  HSV gets the season started on the right track. Make mine 0:2 for the HSV, and give me a cold Holsten to wash it down.</p>
<p>Readers, help me out here:  I am pretty sure that beginning in 2010/11, the Bundesliga gets 4 spots in the CL. Am I correct?  This is leading to my season prediction. This is the year we finally make it back to the Champions League. I think the top 3 teams in the league are <a href="http://bayern.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Bayern</a>, HSV and Stuttgart, and you can throw Schalke and Wolfsburg in for the last CL spot. I have long maintained that more than anything, I want to watch HSV on the biggest stage and see them back in the Champions League, just as I did one night in September 2006 (before I was a supporter of the club), when I watched them get drubbed by Arsenal while in the lounge of the Bexleyheath Marriott in Kent. If we win some silverware along the way, so be it&#8211;that&#8217;s the icing on the cake.  I say we finish a very close second to Bayern&#8217;s first, with Stuttgart ultimately prevailing for third over Wolfsburg and Schalke. What are your predictions?</p>
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		<title>Europa, here we come!</title>
		<link>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/europa-here-we-come.html</link>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 24 May 2009 07:16:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Evan</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Borussia Dortmund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Borussia Monchengladbach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bundesliga]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Eintracht Frankfurt]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Martin Jol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Match Recap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Team News]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[VfL Wolfsburg]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Werder Bremen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bundesliga: Hamburg: Hamburger: HSV: German: Germany: E]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[Well Ladies and Gentlemen, after some very tense games last night, HSV will be playing in the new Europa League competition! Unfortunately, living in the second most isolated city in the world means that I was stuck watching Wolfsburg (but when it&#8217;s Bremen being beaten thrashed, it&#8217;s all good!) Luckily Jan&#8217;s liveblog kept me updated [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><img src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/05/olic_shhhh1.jpg" alt="Olic in the HSV shirt for the last time" width="180" height="121" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-322" />Well Ladies and Gentlemen, after some very tense games last night, HSV will be playing in the new Europa League competition! Unfortunately, living in <a href="http://westcoastassist.com.au/Perth_the_second_most_isolated_capital_city_in_the_world.htm">the second most isolated city in the world</a> means that I was stuck watching Wolfsburg (<a href="http://www.theoffside.com/leagues/bundesliga/wolfsburg-make-very-very-sure-to-win-bundesliga.html">but when it&#8217;s Bremen being <del datetime="00">beaten</del> thrashed, it&#8217;s all good!</a>) Luckily Jan&#8217;s liveblog kept me updated on the match (cheers Jan!) </p>
<p><span id="more-320"></span></p>
<p>With the likes of Streit (bruised calf), Atouba (groin strain), Jansen (throat infection), Silva (torn hamstring), and Reinhardt (lack on practice) unavailable, Jol couldn&#8217;t play his team of choice.<br />
This was the team last night:</p>
<p><img src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/05/m_eintracht_f_team_aufstell_012.jpg" alt="Hamburger Starting XI" width="500" height="197" class="alignleft size-full wp-image-325" /></p>
<p>Frankfurt started the match looking for an early goal. Meier and Fink both tested Rost (12 and 15 minutes respectively), but neither could get through. Not wanting to be outdone, the Rothosen started a series of attacks on the Frankfurt goals. Finally, in the 22nd minute, Pitroipa set up Jarolim just outside the box. Jarolim&#8217;s shot stunned the crowd, and evidently the Frankfurt keeper. </p>
<p>1-0</p>
<p>Seven minutes later, and Olic had a great chance to double the lead. Guerrero then missed another great opportunity, just 5 minutes before the break. A substitution by Funkel (Ioannis Amanatidis on) signaled the start of the second half.</p>
<p>The second half was on of the most intense games I&#8217;ve <del datetime="00">seen</del> read on liveblog for a long time. As <a href="http://bm.theoffside.com/borussia-monchengladbach-news/never-doubt-borussia.html">Monchengladbach miraculously took the lead against Dortmund</a> our own Ivica Olic converted a Demel cross to double our lead.</p>
<p>2-0!</p>
<p>And at that point it all went downhill. In a matter of 5 minutes, Frankfurt leveled the scores, following goals by Meier and Caio&#8230;.<br />
&#8230;And just when you thought it couldn&#8217;t get worse, news came in that Kuba had scored for Dortmund.</p>
<p>2-2</p>
<p>So it was very simple. Score a goal, hope that Dortmund don&#8217;t score, and HSV would play in Europe next season. Don&#8217;t score, and our dreams would be down the drain. Jol reacted brilliantly, making a move that many would come to call pure genius and tactical vision. He subbed on Trochowski. In the 84th, he fired a free kick just over the bar. In the 89th, Pitroipa made a great long range shot that had the fans on their feet. Finally, when most fans had given up all hope, Trochowski recieved the ball on the corner of the penalty box. It was announced that Dortmund had only drawn at Gladbach. If there was ever a time, this was it. And with that Trochowski became my favorite player of all time, scoring a great goal and sending HSV straight to Europe!</p>
<p><strong>3-2 HSV!</strong></p>
<p><strong>Match Facts:</strong><br />
<strong>Goals:</strong> Jarolim (22), Olic (58), Meier (61), Caio (63), Trochowski (90)<br />
<strong>Booked</strong> Aogo, Mathijsen, Benjamin, Boateng, Trochowski<br />
<strong>Attendance</strong> 51,500</p>
<p><img src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/05/table.jpg" alt="The table as of 24/5/09" width="500" height="342" class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-326" /></p>
<p><strong>Goals:</strong></p>
<p><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/1NvUCvrCOkc&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/1NvUCvrCOkc&amp;hl=en&amp;fs=1&amp;rel=0&amp;color1=0x006699&amp;color2=0x54abd6" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></p>
<p><strong><em>ROTHOSEN</em></strong></p>
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		<title>The Best of Times, the Worst of Times</title>
		<link>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/the-best-of-times-the-worst-of-times.html</link>
		<comments>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/the-best-of-times-the-worst-of-times.html#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Thu, 21 May 2009 22:10:50 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Borussia Dortmund]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Borussia Monchengladbach]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Champions League]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[FC Köln]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Martin Jol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Match Recap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Team News]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[UEFA Cup]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[This campaign had been most remarkable for Hamburg supporters. HSV were alive in all three competitions&#8211;the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, and the UEFA Cup in mid-April&#8211;and looking to finally get that no-silverware-since-1987 monkey off our collective back. We truly looked as though we belonged on the big stage in Europe among the top clubs, the perennial [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>This campaign had been most remarkable for Hamburg supporters. HSV were alive in all three competitions&#8211;the Bundesliga, the DFB-Pokal, and the UEFA Cup in mid-April&#8211;and looking to finally get that no-silverware-since-1987 monkey off our collective back. We truly looked as though we belonged on the big stage in Europe among the top clubs, the perennial powerhouses of the Champions League.</p>
<p><span id="more-312"></span></p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-314" src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/05/340x-120x120.jpg" alt="This is me, except for the Celtic strip. And being a woman." width="120" height="120" />As football fans, I think that Nick Hornby&#8217;s <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Fever-Pitch-Nick-Hornby/dp/1573226882/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&amp;s=books&amp;qid=1242843592&amp;sr=1-7" target="_self">Fever Pitch</a> </em>should be mandatory reading (in fact, I will make it mandatory reading for all of the Hamburg Offside&#8217;s readers [both of you]&#8211;I feel like a university professor now or something). I <span style="text-decoration: line-through">like</span> love the book so much, that more than once, as soon as I get to the end, I start reading it again. One of the primary theme&#8217;s of the book is that non-supporters cannot possibly understand the emotional connection that a supporter has with their side and how much that connection dominates true supporter&#8217;s daily lives.  Because in the end, this connection we make with &#8220;our&#8221; sides is an obsession.  I know what you&#8217;re thinking:  In the immortal words of Herb Tarlek, <em>How does this affect me?</em>  Well, if you are anything like me, you have been walking around in a depressive funk since Saturday&#8217;s 0:1 home defeat to <a href="http://koln.theoffside.com/" target="_blank">Köln/Cologne</a>. Nobody, but nobody, understands why I am so damn, well, blue. No one in my family knows I write this blog (OK&#8211;<em>occasionally </em>write this blog)&#8211;they just think I&#8217;m a depressive sort who has his moods. I don&#8217;t think they&#8217;d understand that a German football (Ne: soccer) team recently blew their last gasp chance to play yet another year in a crummy, second-rate European competition, and in doing so, eliminated *any* chance they had of signing quality players in this summer&#8217;s transfer market. </p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-313" src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/05/dfbpokal-120x120.jpg" alt="" width="120" height="120" />My mental state has been on a slippery slope since the Pokal loss to freaking <a href="http://bremen.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Bremen</a> on penalties, and the later admission by BMJ that he doesn&#8217;t practice penalties. Now you&#8217;ll forgive me, I am not a big time football manager. In fact, the highest level of football I have ever coached is my twin daughters&#8217; U10 team this past year (and I am not very good&#8211;we are 0-0-9 heading into our next and final match; I won&#8217;t even think about telling you what our goal differential is. Oy. To my credit though, none of the girls on my squad have ever played organized soccer before this year, and last week, they held the opposition to a scoreless draw in the first half before finally succumbing 1:2.) The point here is that even though I coach girls U10, my team practices penalties EVERY WEEK. We end our last practice each week by splitting the team up and having the two groups compete against each other. SO WHY DIDN&#8217;T HSV CONVERT ANY OF THOSE F&#8217;ING PENALTIES? Sure, Tim Wiese stood on his head for a couple of saves, but shouldn&#8217;t it have been a bit closer than 2-4? And why did Jerome Boateng take the second penalty and not Pitroipa or Trochowski?</p>
<p>I was a bit more upbeat following the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-final that saw HSV victorious 0:1, with that all important away goal. I remember saying to myself, &#8220;Self, this is the year. Yeah, stinking Bremen knocked us out of the Cup, but we&#8217;ll get even here,&#8221; only to have the Hanseaten break my heart by giving up 3 away goals to Werder in the return leg. By the time we played them again in the Bundesliga, I was shell shocked and burried my head in the sand. I couldn&#8217;t bear to watch them lose again.</p>
<p>The victory over <a href="http://bochum.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Bochum</a> was little consolation and as previously mentioned, the defeat to Köln/Cologne sent me over the edge. There&#8217;s no more Intertoto Cup as a means of qualifying for the Europa League this year (as we did in 2007/08), so unless <a href="http://dortmund.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Dortmund</a> drops points to <a href="http://bm.theoffside.com" target="_blank">&#8216;Gladbach</a> (unlikely, but Marko Marin says <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mopo.de%2F2009%2F20090519%2Fsport%2Fhsv%2Fich_helfe_dem_hsv.html&amp;sl=de&amp;tl=en&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8" target="_blank"><em>he will help Hamburg out</em></a>&#8211;and in case you haven&#8217;t heard it or read it, <a href="http://www.goal.com/en/news/15/germany/2009/05/17/1270273/werder-bremen-set-to-hijack-hamburger-svs-marko-marin-deal" target="_blank">Marin&#8217;s nearly assured summer transfer to HSV has been hijacked</a>, by, you guessed it&#8211;FREAKING BREMEN!), we are out of European competition next season.</p>
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		<title>What you may have missed</title>
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		<pubDate>Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:44:20 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bundesliga]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Energie Cottbus]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Manchester City FC]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Vfl Wolfsburg]]></category>

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		<description><![CDATA[. . . If the Hamburg Offside is your only source of HSV news. Glad to be back. Once again my personal life has interfered with my life as a Hamburg supporter, which is a pretty nice way to refer to one&#8217;s self these days.

On with the list. And, again, please accept my apologies for [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>. . . If the Hamburg Offside is your only source of HSV news. Glad to be back. Once again my personal life has interfered with my life as a Hamburg supporter, which is a pretty nice way to refer to one&#8217;s self these days.</p>
<p><span id="more-301"></span></p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-302" src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/04/hsv-300x214.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="214" />On with the list. And, again, please accept my apologies for the dearth of posts this past month.</p>
<p><a href="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/hsv-wolfsburg-preview.html" target="_self">When last we checked in</a>, HSV were preparing for a visit from the now-mighty <a href="http://wolfsburg.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Wolfsburg</a> at the &#8216;Bank. When the dust settled, gone was HSV&#8217;s undefeated record at home in <span style="text-decoration: line-through">all competitions</span> the league (duh&#8211;we lost 0:1 to Ajax on Thanksgiving [November]) as <a href="http://wolfsburg.theoffside.com/wolfsburg-team-news/bundesliga-race-tightens-up-as-wolfburg-upsets-hsv.html" target="_blank">Wolfsburg defeated <em>Die Rothosen</em> 1:3</a> in a match that wasn&#8217;t as close as the score would indicate, on a brace from Grafite (who the Hamburg Offside simply cannot stand). That result left HSV in a traffic jam for second place on the table.</p>
<p>Following the defeat to Wolfsburg, Hamburg took on lowly SV Wehen of the 2. Bundesliga in the DFB-Pokal (and by lowly, I mean LOW&#8211;at the time of the match, they were dead LAST in the 2. B&#8217;liga). HSV went through the motions and came away with a 2:1 victory, after which keeper Frank Rost prophesized (and I&#8217;m paraphrasing), <em>If we play this shitty in our league matches, we&#8217;re going to get throttled, regardless of who we play. You know, like &#8216;Gladbach. Who we play Saturday.</em> Well, Rost proved more than prescient because HSV went on the road and had their asses handed to them 4:1. Marko Marin was sublime in his&#8211;dare we dream?&#8211;audition for HSV, with a nice assist to Rob Friend on the game&#8217;s first goal and the final nail in the coffin with a penalty on our oracle Rost. The <span style="text-decoration: underline">only</span> good thing to take away from this match was that it <em>seemed</em>  to serve as a much needed wake up call to HSV. Or so we thought. At least <em>I thought so</em>.  In the interim, Hamburg drew arch rival <a href="http://bremen.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Werder Bremen</a> (Boo! Hiss!) away for the semi finals of the Pokal</p>
<p>HSV are still alive in three competitions&#8211;the league, the Pokal, and the UEFA (ne: Europa) Cup. After finishing off Nijmegen in the first knockout round, HSV drew Turkish giants <a href="http://galatasaray.theoffside.com/" target="_blank">Galatasaray</a> in the round of 32. The first leg was played on 12 March at the &#8216;Bank and Hamburg played a less than spectacular match, failing to take full advantage of 10-man Gala for most of the 2nd half, <a href="http://galatasaray.theoffside.com/postmatch/another-draw-in-europe-another-hot-night-at-the-ali-sami-yen-awaits-hamburg-1-1-galatasaray.html" target="_blank">allowing the Turks to leave town with a 1:1 draw</a> and an ever-precious away goal (and I take exception to the author&#8217;s suggestion that there were 30,000 away supporters at the match; the &#8216;Bank seats 57,000 TOTAL, and they away supporters had one small section on the lower deck&#8211;a more likely number is 3,000).</p>
<p>The following <em>Sonntag,</em> HSV welcomed Cottbus to town and a visit from the relegation strugglers was just what the doctor ordered. Bayern-bound Ivica Olic pounced on the visitors 32 minutes in, and Piotr Trochowski sealed the victory with a lovely goal from about 25 yards out in the 39th minute. HSV kept 10 men in front of the ball for the entire second half and Cottbus could muster nothing more than a couple of extreme range shots.</p>
<p>Which brings us to the return leg of the UEFA Cup. There are few more initimidating venues for visiting football clubs than the Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Istanbul. With HSV playing the return leg on the road, <em>and having conceded an away goal in the home leg of the tie, </em>the prospects for a treble this season looked mighty, mighty bleak. And things did not look any better once the match started. Galatasaray started off the scoring with a penalty by Harry Kewel following a mugging by Jerome Boateng on Milan Baros in the area at the 42&#8242; mark. Baros was not going to be denied this night, as he knocked home an Arda Turan poke with a nifty little lift over the charging Frank Rost just after the restart. Things looked really, really bad for HSV.</p>
<p>But providence smiled upon the Hanseaten and Peruvian party-boy Paolo Guerrero with a blast from another time zone to the top left corner over &#8216;keeper Morgan De Sanctis. And he wasn&#8217;t finished. A scant three minutes later, Guerrero shredded the Gala defense before sliding another goal past De Sanctis, drawing Hamburg even, and giving them 2 away goals for good measure. As if that weren&#8217;t enough, Olic sealed HSV&#8217;s advance to the quarterfinals with a lob goal right at full time. The amount of heart this side showed to win this match when they were down 3-1 on aggregate in one of the most difficult stadiums venues in Europe cannot be measured. To me, this will be the match we point to when we look back at the turning point of this season.</p>
<p>Up next for Hamburg was perennial contender <a href="http://schalke.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Schalke 04</a>, except that Schalke aren&#8217;t contending this season. Summarily bounced from the CL, and then the UEFA Cup, Schalke are having a rough go of it this year. So much so that their collective performance had already cost sporting director Andreas Muller his job, and the prospects for gaffer Fred Rutten weren&#8217;t looking much better. So what did Hamburg do? They put the hammer down and trounced Schalke 1:2 in match that wasn&#8217;t that close. Both goals were struck by Guerrero, whose price for a contract extension with the club has gone sky high (his current deal runs through 2010 and the club was looking to lock him up for another 2 years). And, Rutten, too, was shown the door shortly following the HSV defeat.</p>
<p>In the meantime, the draw for the quarter finals of the UEFA Cup has taken place, and Hamburg have drawn <a href="http://mancity.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Manchester City</a>, a club with which we already have more than one connection. In fact we have two. Two former faves of the Hamburg Offside, Vincent Kompany and Nigel de Jong, now ply their trades at Citeh, and the Citizens snuck into the quarters on penalties over Aalborg. Kompany is now playing in the midfield opposite De Jong and has been quite successful.  Really looking forward to this tie. By the way, should HSV prevail over City, we would play the winner of the Bremen-<a href="http://udinese.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Udinese</a> tie.</p>
<p>And finally, HSV dished out a little more payback for those 3 3-goal defeats we suffered in the <em>Hinrunde,</em> with a 1:0 victory over suddenly mortal <a href="http://tsg.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Hoffenheim</a> on Saturday past on a goal by speedster Jonathon Pitroipa in 28th minute.</p>
<p>Well, that&#8217;s it for the recap. Thanks again for your kind words whilst I was away. I intend to be back with a post about injuries and who looks to be in and who&#8217;s out come this summer, and a quick HSV-City preview before Thursday&#8217;s match.</p>
<p> </p>
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		<title>Back in the High Life</title>
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		<pubDate>Tue, 24 Feb 2009 20:52:38 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[AFC Ajax Amsterdam]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Even though the knockout round of the Champions League begins this evening (and if you read this blog, you know damn well who I am cheering for and against), I would be remiss if I did not post something after Hamburg monumental defeat of valiant Leverkusen in Dusseldorf on Sunday.

That&#8217;s right. Die Rothosen are once [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Even though the knockout round of the Champions League begins this evening (and if you read this blog, you know damn well who I am cheering for and against), I would be remiss if I did not post something after Hamburg monumental defeat of valiant <a href="http://leverkusen.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Leverkusen</a> in Dusseldorf on Sunday.</p>
<p><span id="more-291"></span></p>
<p><img class="alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-292" src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/02/miller-120x120.jpg" alt="" width="120" height="120" />That&#8217;s right. <em>Die Rothosen</em> are once again top of the Bundesliga, thanks to the suddenly sturdy feet of <strong>Marcell Jansen</strong> (the with one &#8216;S&#8217;, right Ashiq?).  Jansen bagged a brace with goals at the 18th and 67th minutes, offset by a nice goal by <strong>Patrick Helmes</strong> in the 29th minute.</p>
<p>So now what? Well for starters, there&#8217;s the second leg of the UEFA Cup tie with <strong>NEC Nijmegen</strong> on Thursday. Word from the training ground is that newly acquired <strong>Tomas Rincon</strong> may start for either <strong>Piotr Trochowski</strong> (ill-stomach virus), or <strong>Guy Demel</strong> (thigh bruise). <strong>Mikael Tavares</strong> and <strong>Michael Gravgaard</strong> are cup tied and will not be playing, so that pretty much leaves Rincon to fill in. To cap off the week, Hamburg host <a href="http://wolfsburg.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Wolfsburg</a> Sunday in a match that has some serious payback implications.  How could we forget the 3(!) 3-nil beatings HSV suffered in the Hinründe, the first of which was adminstered by Wolfsburg? Not sure I will ever forget those. One guy we won&#8217;t be seeing Sunday is Hamburg Offside fave <strong>Jerome Boateng</strong>.  &#8216;Rome came on for Guy Demel in the 60th minute, earned a yellow in the 81st and topped off a short performance with a second yellow and his hall pass to the dressing room in the 86th minute. I have been clammoring for Boateng to be playing but outings like this don&#8217;t impress BMJ.</p>
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		<title>Great beginning</title>
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		<pubDate>Thu, 05 Feb 2009 16:29:22 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Bayer 04 Leverkusen]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Die Rothosen defeated nemesis Bayern Munich Friday evening to the tune of 1:0, in as good a football match as you are ever going to see.

As I wrote to a friend earlier, this match had everything&#8211;quality shots, up-and-down action, crappy officiating, the works. Hamburg forced the play most of the evening on the Bavarians. I [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Die Rothosen defeated nemesis Bayern Munich Friday evening to the tune of 1:0, in as good a football match as you are ever going to see.</p>
<p><span id="more-284"></span></p>
<p>As I wrote to a friend earlier, this match had everything&#8211;quality shots, up-and-down action, crappy officiating, the works. Hamburg forced the play most of the evening on the Bavarians. I am not going to go into the details of the match&#8211;there&#8217;s a fairly good <a href="http://soccernet.espn.go.com/report?id=252559&amp;cc=5901&amp;league=GER.1" target="_self">recap here</a>. Let&#8217;s get right to the news then.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>News and Notes:</h2>
<p><strong>Bastian Reinhardt</strong> left the match at the 64&#8242; mark with a foot injury, further depleating an already thin HSV back line. The diagnosis is a broken metatarsal, and Basti will be out of action for a minimum of 3 months (surgery to repair the fracture was successful this morning). <strong>Jerome Boateng</strong> came off the bench to replace Reinhardt, but apparently will not keep that spot (see below) for very long.</p>
<p>HSV were very busy at the close of the transfer period, signing 5 new players (in addition to the loan of <strong>Marcel Ndjengs</strong>, which was completed last week). The new guys are as follows:</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px">•<a href="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/the-new-guy.html" target="_self">Venezuelan giant <strong>Tomas Rincon</strong></a>, on loan from Deportivo Tachira.  </p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px">•<strong>Mickael Tavares</strong>, defensive midfielder, purchased from Slavia Prague (through 2012). I am pretty sure that Tavares is cup tied for the UEFA Cup, but will be invaluable in the DFB-Pokal and the Bundesliga campaigns&#8211;a nice pickup for HSV.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px">•<strong>Michael Gravgaard</strong>, central defender, on loan from FC Nantes of Ligue 1. He will likely be taking Reinhardt&#8217;s spot in the long term. His contract is up this summer and he has stated that he would like to sign a permanent deal with HSV. <em>I don&#8217;t know what BMJ has against Jerome Boateng, but he either needs to play him or loan him out. With as little depth as HSV has right now on defense, it would seem natural for Boateng to be called upon. Boateng will likely start at right back versus Karlsruhe with <strong>Guy Demel</strong> moving inside to replace Reinhardt until Gravgaard is ready.</em></p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px">•<strong>Khalid Sinouh</strong>, goalkeeper, free agent (last club-AZ Alkmaar).</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px">•<strong>Albert Streit</strong>, midfielder, on loan from Schalke.  Streit was banished from the dressing room last autumn shortly after joining Schalke from Frankfurt. He comes to Hamburg to fulfill the #10 role that was vacated both by <strong>VDV</strong> and <strong>Thiago Neves</strong>. It sounds like Streit got a bad rap as a troublemaker early on at Schalke and never had the opportunity to redeem himself.  REALLY looking forward to seeing this cat &#8216;ball.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px">•Speaking of Neves . . . The sale of Neves to Saudi side Al-Hilal was completed at the transfer deadline. The major stumbling block for HSV was the proposed loan from Al-Hilal back to Fluminense. HSV felt that playing in Brazil again would only increase Neves&#8217; value on the transfer market this summer and that they did not want to lose out on any additional revenue that would be generated by him displaying his talents in Brazil for another season. In the end, HSV caved and sold Neves to Al-Hilal for the previously agreed sum of €7 million. <em>So long Neves&#8211;truly, we harldy knew ya . . .</em></p>
<p><strong>Anis Ben-Hatira</strong> was loaned to MSV Duisburg of the 2. Bundesliga.</p>
<p>HSV have drawn <strong>SV Wehen-Wiesebaden</strong> for the quarter finals of the DFB-Pokal. This is another great draw for Hamburg as Wiesbaden are the only 2. Bundesliga side left in the competition. The match will be played at the &#8216;Bank either 3 or 4 March.</p>
<p>Good news from the training room: <strong>Alex Silva</strong> (you know, the Brazilian who didn&#8217;t suck), resumed training on 3 February following surgery to repair a hernia. He is nowhere near ready to resume playing, though.</p>
<p style="padding-left: 30px"> </p>
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		<title>Back in the saddle</title>
		<link>http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/back-in-the-saddle.html</link>
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		<pubDate>Fri, 02 Jan 2009 21:55:31 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Chris</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[Aston Villa]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bayer 04 Leverkusen]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Bayern Munich]]></category>
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		<category><![CDATA[Hertha BSC Berlin]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Martin Jol]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Match Recap]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Player News]]></category>
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		<description><![CDATA[Howdy. Sorry for the long time between posts, but with Christmas and New Year&#8217;s, and a death in the family mixed in the past week, something had to give, and unfortunately, it was the Hamburg Offside. Away we go .  .  .

Since we last checked in, HSV laid a pretty good beating on the Aston [...]]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Howdy. Sorry for the long time between posts, but with Christmas and New Year&#8217;s, and a death in the family mixed in the past week, something had to give, and unfortunately, it was the Hamburg Offside. Away we go .  .  .</p>
<p><span id="more-239"></span></p>
<p>Since we last checked in, <a href="http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/17122008/4/villa-uneasy-hamburg-mauling.html" target="_self">HSV laid a pretty good beating</a> on the <a href="http://villa.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Aston Villa</a> reserves at the &#8216;Bank, with the final being 3:1 for <em>Die Rothosen</em>. As a result, HSV won Group F and drew a third place side from the <a href="http://uefa.theoffside.com" target="_self">UEFA Cup</a> (and not one of the CL dropouts), and lo and behold, we have NEC Nijmegen in the knockout round. Nijmegen finished third in Group D behind Udinese and Spurs. They currently sit eighth in the <a href="http://netherlands.theoffside.com/" target="_blank">Eredivisie</a> table on 26 points, 15 points adrift of surprise leaders AZ Alkmaar. Winner of the HSV-Nijmegen matches take on the winner of the <a href="http://bordeaux.theoffside.com/" target="_blank">Bordeaux</a>-<a href="http://galatasaray.theoffside.com/" target="_blank">Galatasary</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>News:</h2>
<p><a href="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/01/39511_news.jpg"><img class="alignleft size-medium wp-image-256" src="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/files/2009/01/39511_news.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="274" /></a>•We are still waiting on <strong>Ivica Olic&#8217;s</strong> &#8220;decision&#8221; about whether to transfer to Bayern this summer or to stay with HSV. Olic&#8217; agent, Gordon Stipic, originally told the press that Ivi would make an announcement on New Year&#8217;s Day, but here we are a day later and still no news. When the announcement comes, if anyone is surprised that Olic chooses Bayern, he/she shouldn&#8217;t be&#8211;Bayern has offered a 3 year deal worth €4.5M per year, with mutual options for 2 more years, <em>plus a €4M signing bonus</em>. Contrast that with the extension HSV has on the table at €3M per year (up from the €2.5M he earns now and no signing bonus, for a whopping €8M less than Bayern. . .), and it&#8217;s easy to see why Olic is outta here. If there is any good news in this story, it&#8217;s that he is not going to transfer in January but will wait until his contract with HSV is up and move on in the summer. Good luck, Ivi, it was fun while it lasted.</p>
<p>•<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bild.de%2FBILD%2Fsport%2Ffussball%2Fbundesliga%2Fvereine%2Fhsv%2F2008%2F12%2F27%2Fthimothee-atouba%2Fvor-dem-abflug-beim-hsv.html&amp;sl=de&amp;tl=en&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8" target="_self"><strong>Thimothee Atouba</strong> has rejected a contract extension from the club</a> and now the club has withdrawn the offer. Another very poor decision by Atouba, whose contract expires at the end of the season. Those of you who read this blog with any frequency know that <a href="http://hamburg.theoffside.com/team-news/follow-up.html" target="_self">I have no love lost for Atouba</a>. I think that BMJ coming in really rejuvenated him. BUT, his contract was up and HSV did not owe him an extension adn was really doing the right thing by offering him an extension when he was hurt so he didn&#8217;t have to worry about not getting a contract while he was rehabbing. And frankly, a guy who is recovering from a pretty severe injury is not, IMO, going to get too many good deals on the open market. Really stupid move by Atouba&#8217;s camp. Atouba has released his agent and that agent has told the <em>MoPo</em> that he will sue Atouba and his new representative if he does end up re-signing with Hamburg.</p>
<p>•The side are in Dubai for their annual winter training camp and play a friendly versus <a href="http://acmilan.theoffside.com" target="_blank">AC Milan</a> on Tuesday 6 January. And yes, <a href="http://beckham.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Becks</a> is expected to dress and play for Milan. While in Dubai, HSV management hope to negotiate a new shirt sponsorship deal with Emirates Airlines. The current deal, which expires later this year, pays €5.5M per year, and the club had hoped for a 3 year extension with a significant increase in value. Instead, the sheiks are said to want a <em>new</em> deal, probably for <em>only</em> €7.5M per year. This will be an interesting story to follow for a couple of reasons: One, Emirates already is the primary shirt sponsor for (in no particular order) <a href="http://arsenal.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Arsenal</a>, <a href="http://psg.theoffside.com" target="_blank">PSG</a>, and aforementioned Milan as a co-sponsor, and they could balk at HSV&#8217;s demand for more dough; On the other hand, HSV are a staple in European competition now and are contending for the Bundesliga crown regularly (if not winning it, SIGH). Add to that the fact that <a href="http://bm.theoffside.com" target="_blank">&#8216;Gladbach</a> and <a href="http://hertha.theoffside.com" target="_blank">Hertha</a> both have endorsement deals ending and the market for both clubs and sponsors would appear to be, to coin a financial term, fluid.</p>
<p>•<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mopo.de%2F2009%2F20090103%2Fsport%2Fhsv%2Fde_jongs_comeback_schon_gegen_beckham.html&amp;sl=de&amp;tl=en&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8" target="_self">Nigel de Jong continues down the road to recovery</a> after rehabbing his sore knee. He looks to make his comeback against Milan on Tuesday and play15 or 20 minutes according to BMJ. <a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bild.de%2FBILD%2Fsport%2Ffussball%2Fbundesliga%2Fvereine%2Fhsv%2F2008%2F12%2F29%2Fnigel-de-jong%2Fim-januar-will-ich-unterschreiben.html&amp;sl=de&amp;tl=en&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8">In an interview with Bild</a>, he says he looks to sign a contract extension in early January. BMJ has stated that there has been no continuity in the midfield since his injury. My feelings exactly.</p>
<p>•An HSV player made an all first-half team&#8211;<a href="http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,3895011,00.html" target="_blank">Surprise! It&#8217;s <strong>Thiago Neves </strong>. . . </a></p>
<p>•<a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.bild.de%2FBILD%2Fsport%2Ffussball%2Fbundesliga%2Fvereine%2Fhsv%2F2008%2F12%2F29%2Fkeeper-robert-enke%2Fhsv-hat-noch-kein-interesse.html&amp;sl=de&amp;tl=en&amp;hl=en&amp;ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">A nice little rumor story in <em>Bild </em>last week</a> about current German national and Hannover goalie Robert Enke leaving when his contract is up in 2010. That happens to be the same year that current HSV &#8216;keeper Frank Rost&#8217;s contract runs out .  .  .</p>
<p>And finally, Happy New Year&#8217;s to everyone who reads the Hamburg Offside. If you celebrate Chinese New Year, you may want to use some of your red envelopes to place a wager on HSV. Over at <a href="http://www.statto.com/football/stats/germany/bundesliga" target="_blank">Statto.com</a>, Hamburg are getting 21:1 odds, which are high, considering Bayern are going at 3:2 right now and Hoffenheim and Leverkusen are 7:1 and 13:1 respectively, but oh what a payout you&#8217;ll get. By the way, Statto, while arguably a betting site, has the *best* Bundesliga statistics on the Internet. Period. I give them a hearty endorsement.</p>
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