GERMANY: FOOTBALL / SOCCER - Hamburg SV coach Thomas Doll is convinced his team will be able to beat Arsenal in their Champions League match

Hamburg SV coach Thomas Doll is convinced his team will be able to beat Arsenal in Wednesday's (September 13) Champions League match, Doll told journalists on Tuesday (September 12) in Hamburg. "Tomorrow, we will be up against a very strong opponent within the Champions League," said Doll. "But I am underlining this again: We do have a chance to beat Arsenal tomorrow in our stadium. I am convinced that we will work very closely together to get fireworks started tomorrow." Hamburg SV returned to the Champions League after a six-year absence and have a real chance of making it through to the knock-out phase if their new signings can provide the level of defensive excellence fans grew so familiar with last season. Hamburg, European champions in 1983, were Bayern Munich's closest challengers for the Bundesliga title last season, before a late slip left them having to settle for third place. Their good run was built around a rock solid defence. Unfortunately for coach Thomas Doll, both Belgium's Daniel van Buyten and Dutchman Khalid Boulahrouz have been sold, to be replaced by Vincent Kompany and Joris Mathijsen, another Belgium-Netherlands match-up. Hamburg have made one other significant addition to the defence, pulling off something of a coup to bring in Juan Pablo Sorin from Villarreal. The Argentina World Cup captain helped Villarreal reach the semi-finals of the Champions League last season but left after the club failed to win qualification back to the competition this term. Up front, Doll will hope for great things from his two new signings, the Peruvian Paolo Guerrero and the Serb Danijel Ljuboja. Doll doubtless would have liked to bring in a few more players before the transfer window closed. Few would doubt that Hamburg have an excellent first team but strength in depth is another thing and challenging in Europe and on the domestic front is likely to seriously tax their resources. Still, if they concentrate their efforts on the Champions League over the first half of the season they stand an excellent chance of making it into the next round.

ITN Source | September 13, 2006

Tags:. .able. .within. .seriously. .pulling. .european