Hamburg - SV Hamburg take a break from Bundesliga action in the best of moods after a late victory at Energie Cottbus gave them a three-point lead at the top of the table. It was the fifth victory in seven league games under new Dutch coach Martin Jol and the first-ever win at Cottbus at the sixth attempt.
With World Cup qualifiers coming up next weekend, Hamburg can now take a breather after a fine start which sees them also going into Tuesday's draw for the group stage of the UEFA Cup and a home meeting against second-division 1860 Munich in the last 16 of the German Cup.
Just a year after his sacking by Tottenham Hotspur, life could hardly be better right now for the popular 52-year-old Dutchman.
"Hamburg is certainly a title candidate," Bayern Munich president Franz Beckenbauer was saying even a month ago.
"Martin Jol hasn't been there long but you can recognize his signature. The team is very disciplined, covers a lot of ground and can maintain the pace over a whole game."
Hamburg's pre-season signings have also raised hopes that the northerners can win a first league title since 1983.
The biggest hit so far has been Croatia striker Mladen Petric snapped up from Borussia Dortmund in a deal which saw out-of-favour Egyptian Mohamed Zidan move the other way.
The deal cost Hamburg a reported 4.5 million euros (6.6 million dollars), but it looks money well spent after Petric headed the 90th-minute winner against Cottbus on Sunday evening. He has now scored seven of Hamburg's last eight goals in all competitions.
Compatriot Ivica Olic had given Hamburg their first goal, and the Croatian pair are promising to be a successful double act up front.
Petric, 27, was not thrown straight into the Hamburg team by Jol, but his goals have now convinced the coach and team-mates that they have picked up a bargain.
"He was always a goalgetter. Let's hope he carries on," Jol said. "Last season we had Olic scoring and now we have him."
Defender Bastian Reinhardt said after Petric was again the match-winner: "Mladen is our life insurance. We should send Dortmund (a bouquet of) flowers for letting him join us. I'm going to drink an extra beer for him today."
Petric, who had scored both goals in a 2-0 UEFA Cup win at Romanian side Unirea Urziceni on Thursday, thought his goal streak had ended after hitting the post, but rose to head home a Piotr Trochowski corner to take his tally to six goals in his last four appearances.
"The most important thing is that we have established ourselves at the top of the table," he said.
Hamburg's next Bundesliga test is a tough home match with Schalke 04 on Sunday October 19, with Jol no doubt hoping both Petric and Olic return unscathed from international duty with Croatia, who have a World Cup qualifying match in Ukraine on Saturday followed by the visit of Andorra four days later.
The self-confidence is there to believe a title is possible.
"When you win these sort of games you can imagine a lot of things," Petric said.
"We all believe in ourselves. We have a really good team with a lot of potential, strength in depth and a great team spirit."
