Van der Vaart makes Hamburg vow
Thursday, November 2, 2006
Article summary
"We must look forward," said a dejected Rafael van der Vaart to uefa.com after Hamburger SV set an unwanted German record with their fourth straight group loss.
Article body
The aftermath of their 3-1 home loss to FC Porto last night was a bitter one for Hamburger SV. There were only long faces in the Bundesliga side's dressing room - no German team had experienced four consecutive defeats in as many UEFA Champions League matches, leaving Thomas Doll's men without a point in Group G and with no chance of salvaging a UEFA Cup campaign.
'We need help'
"We have nothing more to do with Champions League football," said Doll. Sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer added: "We should work hard on the pitch to get respect and the support of our fans. At times tonight, it did not always look like we were trying to do that." Left-back Thimothée Atouba admitted: "We need help."
Crumbs of comfort
It could not have been worse for the 1982/83 European champions. They had started the campaign with high hopes and full of pride thanks to their UEFA Champions League qualification. Four months later, Hamburg are in deep depression, searching for crumbs of comfort. "We all are very disappointed," captain Rafael van der Vaart told uefa.com. "But we must look forward. If you lose four times in Europe, it is quite unbelievable. However, I am convinced we will get out of this situation."
Recovery programme
The 23-year-old Dutch international kept his club's bid to collect points briefly alive when he headed Hamburg back into contention moments after Porto had gone 2-0 up just past the hour - but that strike proved a mere consolation when the visitors registered a third. Now Hamburg must look to the domestic scene and aim to continue some promising league form. "We must focus on the Bundesliga and try to improve again, step by step," Beiersdorfer said.
Final games
Doll agreed, aware that the coming months will be tough for his team, who sit 15th in the Bundesliga. "All we can do is try to repeat in the future what we have previously achieved with hard work," the coach said. Their last two UEFA Champions League fixtures against Arsenal FC and PFC CSKA Moskva will at least give Hamburg valuable experience. "We must enjoy the matches at Arsenal and against CSKA," Van der Vaart insisted.
