Hamburg get an away win to open UEFA Cup Round 1
By: Ian Rose | September 18th, 2007Well, I thought it would be a tough one, and I predicted a 1-1 draw between Hamburg and Bulgarian side Litex Lovech in the first match of the UEFA Cup proper. However, Hamburg was one better than that, scoring a goal courtesy of Romeo Castelen, but holding Litex scoreless and taking a great away win. I hope that Jan from the Bundesliga Offside was able to see this match, because here in the States, even the Champions League has to wait until the knockout rounds to get onto mainstream TV, and the UEFA Cup? Fuggetabouddit. Anyway, good win for Hamburg, and one that should pretty much guarantee their place in the group stages. As tough as Litex is, I can’t see them beating Hamburg in Germany, and a draw won’t do. More later on the many games to come Wednesday and Thursday as the first leg of the first round continues.
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Tags: Europe, First Round, Hamburg, Hamburger SV, Litex Lovech, Romeo Castelen, Tournament News, UEFA CupSubscribe
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I only managed to watch the last 25 minutes of the match, though according to the commentator on TV I didn’t really miss anything. Which means it was a not so hot performance by Hamburg. Lovech were a bit unfortunate that they missed a couple of chances while Hamburg was lucky to convert theirs with a bit of help by the Bulgarian goalkeeper. This win is definitely better than the draw I expected. I can’t see how Hamburg could give it away in their home match.
Apart from the good result I have to say that this was the typical type of match that demonstrates why the UEFA Cup can suck pretty bad. There were only 5000-6000 fans which gave the whole match the atmosphere of some third or fourth division fixture. DSF also had the stupid idea to place their microphones close to Hamburgs travelling support. It’s not their fault that they were probably drunk and had a good time, but I don’t have to listen to 10-20 people “singing” for the whole 25 minutes in the background. I prefer the more abstract crowd noise you normally get from a packed stadium. And the match itself wasn’t too exciting either. Anyway, so far Hamburg attracted 40000-50000 for their two European home matches this season and I hope this will be the case for the second leg as well. And Hamburg also scored plenty of goals at home, so I also hope for a more entertaining match.
Video of the goal:
http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=18409183Posted from
Germany
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