Lasogga: a hat-trick hero in every sense
Munich - Pierre-Michel Lasogga's hat-trick for Hamburger SV against 1. FC Nürnberg on Matchday 8 was the fourth-fastest in Bundesliga history. Remarkably, however, it was only the second in the history of HSV.
When is a hat-trick not a hat-trick?
This seems an incredibly low number for a side that recently celebrated 50 uninterrupted years in the top flight. So how come the Traditionsverein have managed so few hat-tricks in recent years? Allow bundesliga.com to explain...
According to the Bundesliga record books, Lasogga was the first player to score a hat-trick in the Bundesliga since Claudio Pizarro (then of SV Werder Bremen) in November 2011 and the first for Hamburg since Ivica Olic in September 2007. However, Lasogga is not the first player to hit the net three times in a match since Pizarro. Confusing, right? The crucial difference lies in the German definition of the term ‘hat-trick’. In Germany, a hat-trick refers to three consecutive goals in a match. If the goals are scored without interruption in the same half, it is subsequently billed with the adjective lupenrein, meaning ‘flawless’ or 'perfect'.
Lasogga’s lupenreiner Hattrick therefore becomes only the 96th in the Bundesliga's 50-year history. That number starts to take on a much healthier look, however, if we widen the definition to include the standard English understanding of the term - three goals by one player in one full match - making Lasogga the third player this season to have scored one after Borussia Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and VfB Stuttgart’s Vedad Ibisevic. Lasogga’s treble falls into both categories, of course, but also into a very special one of its own.
In good company
The 21-year-old joins an elite list of players to have scored the fastest lupenreine Hattricks in Bundesliga history. Indeed, Hamburg’s loanee is preceded only by MSV Duisburg’s Michael Tönnies (five minutes) in August 1991, Borussia Dortmund’s Norbert Dickel (six minutes) in September 1998 and Borussia Mönchengladbach’s Herbert Laumen (seven minutes) in September 1967.
On the list of 96 lupenrein efforts, Lasogga is rubbing shoulders with some of Germany's all-time greats. Gerd Müller hit a record seven such hat-tricks for FC Bayern München between 1964 and 1979. The revered Ulf Kirsten achieved that feat twice, while the likes of Jürgen Klinsmann and Miroslav Klose managed it on one occasion.
The most prized of footballing currencies
By widening the definition to include the less-stringent English version of a hat-trick, Lasogga joins a select group of Hamburg players on the list. Former national heart-throb Uwe Seeler hit six conventional hat-tricks for the northern giants, while Horst Hrubesch, and the first-ever Bundesliga hat-trick hero Gert Dörfel also feature.
Indeed, using the more forgiving English definition will come as a relief to anyone led to believe the Bundesliga was a barren landscape in terms of trebles. There have been 37 conventional, or 'English' hat-tricks since the start of the 2010/11 season, Lasogga's merely the latest on that list.
