Heung Min Son (l.), Dennis Aogo and the rest of the Hamburg team were "very confident and well-prepared" when they entered the lions' den in Dortmund
Heung Min Son (l.), Dennis Aogo and the rest of the Hamburg team were "very confident and well-prepared" when they entered the lions' den in Dortmund

Son: "An optimal performance"

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Dortmund - They came, they saw, they conquered. Hamburger SV enjoyed a taste of glories past and, if all goes to plan, glories to come again in the none-too-distant future in Saturday's clinical 4-1 victory over Borussia Dortmund.

"Something special"

The win wrapped up a season double for Thorsten Fink's troops against a Dortmund side whose record-threatening 31-game unbeaten streak they had previously and unexpectedly brought to an end back on Matchday 4.

As in that first encounter in Hamburg, Heung Min Son chipped in with two goals towards the Red Shorts' triumph and the South Korean star was the understandable subject of considerable media attention after the match. The result, he confessed, was "a dream. Beating Dortmund is something special and I'd never have believed beforehand that we would manage it twice this season... and obviously I'm delighted to have scored myself on top of that. I just feel happy, simple as that".

Son's brace on Saturday also took him up to nine goals for the season, surpassing the combined Bundesliga total of his first two seasons with HSV. Indeed, since making the move up from the youth ranks - he penned his first professional contract when he turned 18 in the summer of 2010 - the Chuncheon-born prospect has developed into a full South Korea international and an indispensable cog in Hamburg's attacking machine.

"All really pumped up"


This season, with Rafael van der Vaart supplying top-calibre service from the middle of the park, Son has taken his game to a higher level yet, thanks also to a rapidly-blossoming frontline partnership with fellow new arrival Artjoms Rudnevs.

"We complement each other very well, as we showed again against Dortmund," said Son when asked about his working relationship with the Latvian forward. "Artjoms is a great lad as well. I certainly don't view him as a rival. We're happy for each other when we score. And when we both hit the net, as against Dortmund, then of course we're both totally happy!"

As to the key to Hamburg's impressive and, once again, generally unanticipated success in the Yellow-Blacks' intimidating back yard, Son reckoned: "It was there for everybody to see how much we wanted to win this match. We were all really pumped up for it and the coach gave us all the motivation we needed. We were very confident and well-prepared going into the game. We put in an optimal performance. Everyone really gave it his all."

"Capable of beating anybody"


As for a possible return to the European stage next season, Son is keeping it all firmly in perspective, the latest coup against the champs notwithstanding: "I don't know, it's hard to say at the moment. Last week we didn't play well at all and deservedly lost to Frankfurt. Now, we've played well and won. But there's nothing to be gained from going on about it or thinking too much about what might happen further down the line."

Instead, the 20-year-old talent and his colleagues are putting their faith in the time-honoured mantra of "taking it a day, and game, at a time. Above all, we need to keep going full out in every match. If we perform as we can, and manage to do it consistently, we're capable of beating anybody in the Bundesliga". Borussia Dortmund will ruefully testify to that.

Angus Davison/ Questions compiled by Dietmar Nolte