Hamburg tread warily on return to German Cup

A wary Thomas Doll will take no chances with his team selection when Hamburg return to the German Cup against Stuttgarter Kickers today, a year after they were turfed out of the competition by a corrupt referee.

On Tuesday a European place is at stake for Hamburg when they defend a 1-0 lead at Valencia in the Intertoto Cup, so a trip to face an amateur side would seem a good opportunity to rest players.

The coach does not see it that way. Twelve months ago Hamburg lost 4-2 away to SC Paderborn, after conceding two penalties and having Belgian striker Emile Mpenza sent off in a match that was fixed by referee Robert Hoyzer.

The scandal of last year's exit makes the domestic cup a priority for Hamburg this time and Doll is not about to put the club's place in jeopardy.

"We'll be going in at full strength," Doll said.

"I was an amateur coach myself for a while and this sort of match provides these clubs with their match of the season."

Hamburg will see the draw for the first round as an extremely good omen. Hamburg beat Stuttgarter Kickers 3-1 in the final of the Cup in 1987.

Paderborn are also back in action today against VfL Wolfsburg and will be eager to prove they can provide another upset, this time without the referee's help.

Paderborn won their last game in the second division 5-0 against Saarbrucken so confidence should not be a problem.

Two other top-flight sides face tricky away trips to play second division opposition.

Cologne are up against Kickers Offenbach today, while Borussia Dortmund face Eintracht Braunschweig on Monday.

Bayern Munich, who beat Schalke 04 in last season's final, have an easy start to their defence against amateurs MSV 1919 Neuruppin in a game being played in Berlin tomorrow.