Rehhagel, who has led Werder Bremen and 1. FC Kaiserslautern to Bundesliga glory, had announced some time ago that he prefers to work with players older than 30.

Ideally these should be married because "a wife is the best training camp", according to the coach. At HSV, Rehhagel would certainly be the wrong man for the job.

The team's spine may be players such as Rafael van der Vaart (24), Joris Mathijsen (27), Ivica Olic (28), Bastian Reinhardt (32) and goalkeeper Frank Rost (34).

Youngest Bundesliga squad

Behind the scenes, hoewever, HSV are building a team for the future. The North Germans have ten players aged 21 or younger, and the squad is the youngest of the Bundesliga with an average age of 24.1 years.

Vincent Kompany (21) and Jerome Boateng (19) are already fully established regulars, midfielder Änis Ben-Hatira (19) and striker Eric-Maxim Choupo-Moting (18) have already come from the bench.

Goalkeeper Rafael Wolf (19), Sebastian Langkamp (20) und Sidney Sam (19) mostly play for the reserve team in the Regional League North.

Three more signings

Three more prodigies were added in the winter break: Macauley Chrisantus (17), Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe (18) and Anton Putsilo (20). And Jonathan Pitroipa (21, SC Freiburg) has already signed a contract for next season.

"Regarding the team's development you have to look at different time horizons. We need a competitive team and have to prepare the young players for the Bundesliga so that they're ready when we need them", sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer explains.

Scouts all over the world

In order to achieve that, HSV have scouts all over the world. And successfully so, as the latest examples Anton Putsilo and Vadis Odjidja-Ofoe prove.

"Hamburg and the HSV brand have a lot of potential that hasn't even been exploited to date", chairman Bernd Hoffmann believes. "Additionally our stadium and the Bundesliga offer outstanding foundations."

Outstanding academy

HSV also rely on local talent, of course. Striker Choupo-Moting plays for HSV since joining the Under-15s, and the academy, named "Jürgen-Werner-Schule", has been established in 2000.

No less than 48 employees, including nine full-time coaches, care for the talented youngsters.

Great future?

The long-term view looks great at HSV, and so does third place in the Bundesliga standings. That would even satisfy Otto Rehhagel.

Another famous Rehhagel quote: "If I include five talents and lose several successive matches, the people will still send me flowers. But they will leave them in the flower pot before they throw them."

Gregory Straub / Translation: Christof Greiner