Hamburg returned to Bundesliga action with a narrow victory over Bayern Munich which takes them to the top of the Bundesliga standings.
LA Galaxy's Landon Donovan made his debut on the pitch in Germany as well. Donovan replaced Bastian Schweinsteiger in the 77th minute and played wide on the right alongside forwards Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose.
In the first league match following the winter break, Mladen Petric's header just before the interval was enough to separate the two sides at the HSV-Arena.
The result marked Hamburg's fourth successive league win and sees Martin Jol's men move one point clear of Hoffenheim, who face Energie Cottbus tomorrow - while Bayern slip down a place to third.
Jol had said before the match his team were not afraid of Bayern, despite their 5-1 demolition of Stuttgart in the DFB-Pokal in midweek.
There certainly appeared to be an air of confidence around the home side when, with just five minutes on the clock, Piotr Trochowski's curling effort had to be tipped on to the left post by a diving Michael Rensing in the Bayern goal.
Hamburg found themselves with another opening after 20 minutes, but Philipp Lahm's last-ditch tackle stopped Jonathan Pitroipa getting a shot in from just a few yards out.
Bayern had the ball in the back of the net eight minutes later through Luca Toni, but the Italian's effort was disallowed for a tug on Bastian Reinhardt's shirt.
Hamburg then came back strongly as the interval approached - and after Rensing had done well to parry Paolo Guerrero's right-footed strike, Jol's side took the lead a minute before the break.
Trochowski's cross caused a moment of confusion in the Bayern area, allowing Croatian international Petric to head home from six yards.
The hosts were again denied by a combination of Rensing and the woodwork at the start of the second half, with Guerrero's shot kept out by both as Hamburg looked to add to their lead.
The let-off spurred Bayern on, and Hamburg goalkeeper Frank Rost was called upon soon afterward when Miroslav Klose threatened from close range.
Toni then missed a golden chance to bring his side level after 70 minutes, somehow heading wide of the left post while unmarked just five yards from goal.
The visitors had one final chance to salvage something as the clock ticked down, but Rost produced the save of the night to deny Toni's strike from the centre of the penalty area.
